# Realmscapes

> Exploring Worlds Through Story and Art


## Posts

- [Epic Knitting](https://realmscapes.world/epic-knitting/): This week’s Unraveled Wednesday includes the Heroes of Yarnia Scarf, the Sweater Sampler, and the discovery of an unexpected treasure trove. Can knitting get more fun than this?
- [Pete's Branch Falls Hike](https://realmscapes.world/petes-branch-falls-hike/): Pete’s Branch Falls trail in the Cherokee National Forest is an easy two hour hike along Horse Creek. It is prettier after a rainfall, but if you’re in the area it’s a nice way to get away for a couple of hours.
- [Making Corn Shocks](https://realmscapes.world/making-corn-shocks/): Have you ever made a corn shock? It sounds like electricity would be involved, but no batteries or jumper cables are needed. A corn shock is a way to stack and store corn stalks, but I didn’t know that until this past weekend. Making them is hard work!
- [Autumn Knitting](https://realmscapes.world/autumn-knitting/): My eldest son arrived last night from California! My kitties are finished! And today is the day for blogging about knitting! Yay! Autumn Kitties Ta da! Here they are, posing for a picture by the mums on the front porch. I’m calling them Pumkin and Spyce. Guess you can figure out which is which! Spyce is happily taking a catnap, but Pumkin is feeling a little grumpy because she wants to nap, too. The kitties started with a class I signed up for at The Yarn Asylum. We used a pattern from Ravelry called The Window Cat by Sara Elizabeth Kellner. […]
- [Easy Peasy September Apple Butter](https://realmscapes.world/easy-peasy-september-apple-butter/): September is one of my favorite months of the year. I love when fall decorations appear on porches and Main Street is decked out in corn stalks and pumpkins. It’s the month that’s still warm enough for wearing shorts but cool enough for the apples to be harvested. Yay! It’s time for yummy apple treats! I’ve been eyeing a recipe for homemade apple butter that I saw on one of my favorite blogs a couple of weeks ago. Marisa at Food In Jars issued the challenge to create and preserve a fruit butter in September, and she provides a great list […]
- [Hiking the Margarette Falls Trail](https://realmscapes.world/hiking-the-margarette-falls-trail/): This week I hiked the Margarette Falls Trail with a group of spry seniors from the local Senior Center. It’s a moderate hiking trail located in the Cherokee National Forest near Greeneville. It was named for Margaret Doak, who is credited for enjoying the waterfalls at the top of the trail in the early 1920s. I haven’t been able to find much more about this lady, but the Doaks were a founding family in Tusculum so I think it’s possible that they played a part in contributing the land to the Forest Service. The day started with a sky full of […]
- [Back to Blogging!](https://realmscapes.world/back-to-blogging/): So here I am again, after a long summer hiatus and lots of changes. In April we left California on our cross-country journey to find our retirement home. In May, we found a house we liked and in July it became ours. We moved in on August 2 and have mostly unpacked. We’re becoming familiar with our new community and loving the area we chose. I found the local yarn store! It’s a cozy little place in downtown Jonesborough. I signed up for a class to knit The Window Cat and chose to make mine a fall decoration. It’s almost finished […]
- [Thoughts Before our Trip](https://realmscapes.world/thoughts-before-our-trip/): Tomorrow we leave on an extended trip in the RV. We plan on visiting the Grand Canyon before traveling east in search of our new home. I jokingly call it “The Great Cross Country Home Hunt”, but it is, really. Great, I mean. As in “no small feat”. We’ll be crossing through many states, searching as we go through many cities, to find a place that we both could be comfortable living in for potentially the rest of our lives. Today I had to do all of the usual pre-trip work. You know what I’m talking about. Grocery shopping for the […]
- [The RV Shakedown Trip: Epilogue](https://realmscapes.world/the-rv-shakedown-trip-epilogue/): Rain started by the time we hitched the trailer to the truck on our last day. We’d cleaned and stowed everything the night before, so really all that was needed was to disconnect the landlines and connect to the tow vehicle. The weather forecast showed that rain was expected for most of the week, so we knew it was time to go home. Things were getting musty! I’m glad that we chose the Fort Bragg area for our first trip in the Creekside. We didn’t have any serious problems that made me grateful for the short trip home, but we did […]
- [The RV Shakedown Trip Day 7: Mackerricher State Park](https://realmscapes.world/the-rv-shakedown-trip-day-7-mackerricher-state-park/): Mackerricher is a California state park located a little north of Fort Bragg. When our boys were little, we brought them here on camping trips to see the seals and the tide pools. Our last visit was many years ago, so I was slightly concerned when we saw on the website that the park was partially closed and we might not get the opportunity this time to revisit our favorite spots. Nevertheless, today we drove north to see what we could.The old gray whale skeleton was still guarding the entrance kiosk when we pulled up. A friendly park ranger explained that […]
- [The RV Shakedown Trip Day 5: A Rainy Day](https://realmscapes.world/the-rv-shakedown-trip-day-5-a-rainy-day/): This morning we woke to a light rain staccato on the roof of the RV. It wasn’t a surprise, but the forecast is so often wrong this time of year that we were disappointed it was right this time! Nevertheless, a rainy day on the coast is better than one in the apartment. We don’t mind hiking in the rain but since we had laundry to do and some errands to run, today seemed like a good day to do just that. I fixed a late breakfast of griddle cakes with maple syrup while we waited for a break in the […]
- [Read Write Thursday: My Irish Heritage and St. Patrick's Day](https://realmscapes.world/read-write-thursday-my-irish-heritage-and-st-patricks-day/): Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day. I’m not Catholic or Presbyterian, but I do have a wee bit of Irish in my blood, so I presume some of my ancestors celebrated the Feast of St. Patrick! By the way, do you know what the colors in the flag of Ireland symbolize? Green is for the revolutionaries; the Catholics who, inspired by the French revolution, organized in the 1790s under the United Irishmen. Their rivals, the Protestant Orange Order, are represented by the orange color. White is for the harmony needed to quell the differences between them. My Irish immigrant ancestors would not […]
- [The RV Shakedown Trip Day 6: Jughandle State Natural Reserve](https://realmscapes.world/day-6-jughandle-state-natural-reserve/): I became intrigued with Jug Handle when we first arrived at Caspar. A blurb on the map of the RV park bragged that the trail was particularly interesting because it went through a unique “ecological staircase”. So when today dawned clear and sunny, we packed a lunch and drove to the Reserve to investigate. It was a wonderful hike. Starting at a small parking lot just off highway 1, signs at the entrance explained that numbered markers were located along the trail. The hiker could refer to the trail marker on a paper brochure to learn something interesting about the ecology. […]
- [The RV Shakedown Trip Day 4: Surf Fishing!](https://realmscapes.world/day-4-surf-fishing/): We woke up this morning to heavy fog. So instead of going on the hike at Jughandle, we decided to go to Westport for some fishing. This was my very first time surf fishing. I found that it’s not as easy as it looks. My biggest problem was getting the hooks cast out far enough to keep the waves from bringing them back on shore. Nevertheless, I caught a surf perch. One fish. It was quite fun. But I think I had more fun watching the waves. I filmed a little bit of it to share. Shujin caught 7 fish. He […]
- [The RV Shakedown Trip Day 3: Mendocino](https://realmscapes.world/day-3-mendocino/): Day 3 of our Shakedown trip started brilliantly. The sun was shining, the birds were tweeting, and the air temperature was balmy for a March day on the coast. After a small breakfast consisting of a bowl of granola with sliced bananas, we took the short drive south to Mendocino. It’s one of my favorite places on the California coast, probably because it reminds me of New England (home of many of my ancestors). Many of the first settlers in Mendocino were from New England. Many were also from the Azores, which is Shujin’s ancestry. Coincidence or not, we both feel […]
- [The RV Shakedown Trip Day 2: Point Cabrillo](https://realmscapes.world/day-2-point-cabrillo/): Today we visited the Point Cabrillo Light Station. History of the Point Cabrillo Light Station The light station is a California State Historic Park located south of Caspar Beach. It was constructed in 1908 to aid the mariners who were transporting logs from the area. The station originally housed a kerosene-powered 3rd order Fresnel lamp built in Great Britain. It had a range of about 15 miles and rotated by means of a weighted chain mechanism similar to what was used in clocks. In 1937 the machinery was replaced with an electric motor. The light still rotates with a ten second […]
- [The RV Shakedown Trip Day 1: Caspar Beach](https://realmscapes.world/day-1-caspar-beach/): There was no doubt in our minds that the first trip in our new trailer would be to the coast. It’s been months since we’ve seen the ocean, one of the longest times in recent history that we haven’t traveled. It’s been over a year since we’ve visited the Pacific. So while our first trip had to be a shakedown, and somewhat close to home in case something went terribly wrong with the trailer, it didn’t have to be in our backyard. Naturally we chose one of our favorite places: the Mendocino Coast. We are not strangers to the Mendocino area. […]
- [Feb 15 Yarn Along: Epic Knits Scarf](https://realmscapes.world/feb-15-yarn-along-epic-knits-scarf/): Happy Wednesday!I’ve made some progress on the Epic Knits Heroes of Yarnia MKAL! I am very pleased with the Epic Knits pattern and the Yarnia quest. The purple colorway (Stroll Tonal from KnitPicks) is gorgeous. I don’t like the off-white/gray colorway, but it’s too late to change now! The picture makes it look better than it is in real life. In retrospect, a bright white would’ve been more appealing for me. Lesson learned. After frogging Son No. 1’s fingerless gloves AGAIN, I restarted and am now almost finished with the first one: This is my own pattern based on the glove […]
- [Retired!](https://realmscapes.world/retired/): My husband officially retired February 1. I’ve asked him twice since then how he is liking it. The response so far has been “it hasn’t sunk in”. I suppose that’s normal; we’ve had long vacations before and it probably just seems like another one. Still, we’ve been looking at travel trailers and thinking about what we’d like to do over the next few months. One priority is to find a new home by the end of the year. We don’t know where, but would like to have fun finding it! Shopping for a travel trailer is an interesting experience. I’ve read […]
- [1 Feb Yarn Along: Double Knitting](https://realmscapes.world/1-feb-yarn-along-double-knitting/): Happy February!I feel like I should be casting on something pink in honor of the new month. But not today.I finished the Mario star practice square over the weekend. It didn’t take very long once I got back into the rhythm. I’m not happy with the edges. But since this is going to be sewn into a blanket, where the edges won’t be obvious. Getting this off the needles meant I could start the Yarn Quest by Epic Knits. I printed the quest and patterns, loaded a dice app onto my phone, rolled the yarn off the hanks and into balls, […]
- [If My Mirror Could Talk](https://realmscapes.world/if-my-mirror-could-talk/): What would my mirror say if it could talk? That is the topic for this week’s Think Write Thursday. What would your mirror say? Would you want it to talk? In today’s world, it’s entirely possible someone could create and manufacture a talking mirror. The concept seems easy enough: insert a miniature camera or two, add a small processor programmed with a type of facial recognition, and an Alexa-type speaker. Voila! A mirror that recognizes some basic facial expressions and responds with positive feedback. Talking Mirror: “You look glum, mate. Why don’t you go for a walk to cheer up?”orTalking Mirror: […]
- [A January Hike](https://realmscapes.world/a-january-hike/): After over a month of cold rain, the sun has finally decided to reappear in our neck of the woods. What better way to celebrate than with a January hike? It rained into the early morning, but the clouds were skedaddling by the time I got out of bed. I poured a cup of coffee and stood at the window in my jammies. The usual morning traffic was pounding down the road, drivers seemingly oblivious to the promising sunshine. I couldn’t bear to listen for long. My hiking boots were calling! A short while later, I parked my car amongst a […]
- [Jan 25 Yarn Along](https://realmscapes.world/jan-25-yarn-along/): It’s Yarn Along day! Can you believe it’s the last Wednesday in January? Did the month seem to pass faster this year? I am very happy to report that Shujin’s second sock is off the needles. In fact, both socks are blocked and were presented to him as a belated birthday present. And it didn’t take another week; just six days… Closeups: I feel a little like a proud mom. Once finished, I cast on a double knitting practice square in preparation for the Epic Knits mystery knit along that I signed up for last month. The practice square is from […]
- [A Walk Through a Rainy Day Art Gallery](https://realmscapes.world/a-walk-through-a-rainy-day-art-gallery/): Happy Monday! How was your weekend?We continued to get a lot of cold rain and it left a good amount of standing water. Many places nearby are flooding, mostly in rural areas. Not here, fortunately, but there are some rather large puddles that make walking interesting. I don’t mean interesting as in “ah, I thought that one was shallow” when you find yourself unexpectedly wading, but rather interesting, as in what you see when you look at a puddle. I like looking at the reflections that I see in puddles. It’s like rainy day art. Take this one, for example: Unmodified, […]
- [Think Write Thursday, or More Cake Anyone?](https://realmscapes.world/think-write-thursday-or-more-cake-anyone/): Today’s topic for Think Write Thursday is: plan a dinner party, inviting 3 people, living or dead. I started thinking about this when I read Carole’s post this morning. Which, by the way, is absolutely wonderful and you should go click into her blog when you are done here and read it. Of course the first thoughts that came into my head were along the lines of inviting my grandparents, who have been deceased for many years and whom I miss terribly. Then it occurred to me that if I had the opportunity to see them alive once more, it would […]
- [Jan 11 Yarn Along and Disappearing Cake](https://realmscapes.world/jan-11-yarn-along-and-disappearing-cake/): This week’s Yarn Along project is the same one I’ve been working on for over a week. It’s socks for Shujin’s birthday. The Big Day is next week, and at this rate I’m not going to finish his present. One of the problems I’m having is with lighting. This winter weather means we are experiencing chronic Overcastitis, and my eyes aren’t what they used to be. So low daylight + dark inside = limited knitting. I am absolutely loving the yarn, though. It is Knit Picks Stroll Tonal, in the Inverness colorway. It has just enough variegation to be interesting, but […]
- [Jan 18 Yarn Along and Project List](https://realmscapes.world/jan-18-yarn-along-and-project-list/): Happy Wednesday! It’s Yarn Along day!Wednesdays always sneak up on me when Monday is a holiday. This week I’ll finish Shujin’s socks. The first sock left the needles the night before his birthday. I felt like I had to have at least one finished to show him and even thought of wrapping it up, but decided in the end it was a waste of paper and tape. He seems happy to know he’s getting them, which makes me want to finish as soon as I can. And now one sock is ready for blocking. You can see from the size of […]
- [Why Pen Pals are Better than News Media](https://realmscapes.world/why-pen-pals-are-better-than-news-media/): This weekend was full of nasty weather here on the west coast. According to weather.com, it was apparently rough in many places across the U.S. That said, I’m not surprised to read lots of blogs this morning that talk about staying cozy indoors. Many of them have accompanying photos depicting everything from recently cleaned rooms to attractively arranged snack trays (shown with the blogger’s favorite beverage). Some have pictures of the family pet, also relaxing in a cozy fashion, or babies wrapped in warm blankets. It’s like reading a dozen letters from pen pals. Remember pen pals? For the ladies (and […]
- [Think Write Thursday and the Month of Tao](https://realmscapes.world/think-write-thursday-nand-the-month-of-tao/): Carole Julius at Carole Knits has a continuing topic called “Think Write Thursday”. I really like the play on words, the encouragement to set aside a day to write about thinking right. It’s so Zen, a way of getting you head around something more existential than the daily chores. And while I am hesitant to commit to writing on a suggested topic every week, this week’s topic was on the mark with what I was thinking about writing anyway.Your action item for today is to go read her post. I loved the way she found something so nice about January that […]
- [Yarn Along Update](https://realmscapes.world/yarn-along-update/): Hi Everyone!This is my second Yarn Along update post for Ginny Sheller’s Wednesday Yarn Along. I really was hoping to write about the new Mystery Knit Along that I joined on Ravelry that is also an RPG, but my mail-ordered yarn isn’t here yet so I’ve not had a chance to actually start knitting it… wait, did I say a MKAL that’s also an RPG? Oh ya, it’s true. The geek in me is ecstatic. I guess I’ll talk about it more next week (if I can wait that long). For now, suffice it to say that it’s a Ravelry KAL […]
- [2016 Year in Review](https://realmscapes.world/2016-year-in-review/): Although I’d rather be on the road right now, I thought it might make me feel better to look back at some of the places we visited this year. I’m looking forward to exploring many more in 2017! Enjoy the pics…Wishing you and your family a very happy New Year!
- [Yarn Along Knitting Update](https://realmscapes.world/yarn-along-knitting-update/): A few weeks ago I found a wonderful blog called Small Things written by Ginny Sheller. I love her fresh, honest writing style. She is also a knitter and has a page dedicated to weekly updates of her projects. She encourages others to post their progress along with their current read. So I’ve been lurking around seeing what other people are knitting and reading. Indirectly, I’ve found some pretty amazing blogs this way. I’ve been thinking about posting my own progress, but I confess that my book selections are not what most knitters would choose to read. I finally concluded that […]
- [Merry Christmas](https://realmscapes.world/merry-christmas/): I hope you all had a wonderfully merry Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve eating lasagna and salad. We only have it once a year, which makes it rather special.For Christmas morning I fixed French toast made with my own homemade challah. A treat anytime, but especially good with the maple syrup we bought in Vermont in October. We spent the day relaxing, then had a super delicious dinner. I make a point not to go overboard cooking for Christmas. It takes me days to prepare and cook for Thanksgiving, but the meal is really the centerpiece of the holiday so the […]
- [O Christmas Tree](https://realmscapes.world/o-christmas-tree/): Wow…It’s hard to believe there’s less than a week to go before Christmas. Did time fly faster than normal this year? I’ve always loved Christmas. It’s a time of the year spent reflecting on the past. As the days get shorter, I can’t help thinking I’ve lived such a relatively short time. But fifty years seemed so long when I was a kid! When I think back to all of the Christmases I’ve experienced and the traditions I’ve carried with me over the years, the Christmas tree is foremost in all of them. Other customs come and go, but the tree […]
- [The Big Day: Retirement](https://realmscapes.world/the-big-day-retirement/): Today was The Big Day. Today we submitted the paperwork to the State confirming Shujin’s retirement. It’s now official! Okay, maybe it wasn’t as big as being born. Or graduation. Or getting married. Or (yikes!) getting divorced (not that I’ve ever experienced that particular Big Day)… Coincidentally, in two days we mark the 30th anniversary of when we first met. I guess that was another Big Day for us. It doesn’t seem like that long ago. Isn’t time funny that way? We marked the occasion with a (somewhat blurry) selfie taken in front of a huge Christmas tree at the State […]
- [Wandering Through Gray Lodge Wildlife Area](https://realmscapes.world/wandering-through-gray-lodge-wildlife-area/): It was a gorgeous day in November when we decided to drive over to the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area near Willows, California for a short hike. Gray Lodge is managed by the California Department of Fish and Game as a wildlife sanctuary for over 300 species of birds and mammals. The sky was mostly clear and blue, and the temperature was just right for a noisy picnic. For the birds, I mean. Thousands and thousands of them were chattering across the plain as they fished and foraged. I’m not a birder, so I can’t begin to identify the many types of […]
- [Knitted Gifts for the Family Christmas](https://realmscapes.world/knitted-gifts-for-the-family-christmas/): Do you make handmade knitted gifts for your family? It’s been years since I’ve thought of anything hand knitted as being special. But this year marks the first when both of my sons were in college. It’s harder to think of Christmas gifts for them now that they no longer have infinite toy wish lists. We give them everything they need year round (including clothing, school supplies, and computer essentials). I’ve been at a loss trying to think of something special they would like. Even though both sons said that gifts weren’t necessary, I love giving presents and can’t imagine having […]
- [Taking on Inktober](https://realmscapes.world/taking-on-inktober/): I started the month of October with the goal of completing the Inktober challenge this year. I’m now reporting that I didn’t make it past the first week. By the time I got to Day 5 it was already feeling pointless. On Day 6 I didn’t try very hard, and on Day 7 I was just being silly with my drawing. I don’t know if anyone else has ever discovered this, but I didn’t feel the need to do any more. I mean, the whole point of Inktober is to build your inking skills and develop a daily habit, am I […]
- [Summer Sheep and Happy Hog](https://realmscapes.world/summer-sheep-and-happy-hog/): Medium: GouacheSize: 10 by 10 inchesNotes: Created for an art show. This was my first real attempt at working in an Americana primitive style, with simplified animal forms, decorative landscapes, bright color, and folk-art-inspired scenery. I wanted these pieces to feel cheerful, rural, and a little storybook-like. The sheep and hog are the main subjects, but the landscapes around them are part of the charm: barns, fields, trees, birds, ponds, flowers, and rolling hills all crowded together into small square worlds. This was a chance to try a style that depends less on realism and more on pattern, color, shape, and […]
- [Autumn Birches](https://realmscapes.world/autumn-birches/): A June 2022 watercolor birch forest study exploring composition, pattern, and extreme color vibrancy.
- [Grandmother with Two Gold Rings](https://realmscapes.world/grandmother-with-two-gold-rings/): An oil pastel portrait study inspired by Picasso, using bold color, divided facial shapes, and abstracted features.
- [Unravelled Wednesday for Jan 20](https://realmscapes.world/unravelled-wednesday-for-jan-20/): Do you analyze your dreams? I’ve been reading in “Belonging” that it’s very helpful for figuring out the problems your subconscious is dealing with. The mind can get very creative in dreams, making them seem confusing or disjointed. For example, learned in the book that if you dream you are being chased by a bad guy, it’s likely you are both the bad guy and the person being chased. You may never see their faces, but your subconscious is separating the aspects of yourself that it is working on, and the only way it can “show” this is to put you […]
- [The Making of an Artist (Book Review)](https://realmscapes.world/the-making-of-an-artist-book-review/): I saw The Making of an Artist: Desire, Courage and Commitment by Kristin G. Congdon on Scribd and was immediately intrigued by the title. What does it take to make an artist? Is it really a matter of being born with talent? Or is there something else needed in order to “be an artist”? She also promised to examine how an artist can best be taught, which certainly aligns with my project goal of helping creatives find creativity. I’ll start right off by saying I was a little disappointed after I read it. But it deserves a decent review, so here […]
- [Walking Makes You More Creative](https://realmscapes.world/walking-makes-you-more-creative/): Did you know walking makes you more creative? It’s true! Adobe did a study (https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xlm-a0036577.pdf) with college students, putting them through a bunch of tests to see how walking influenced their creative thinking. Specifically, they looked at “novel” idea creation, meaning ideas that are unusual and/or new, and “unique” idea generation, meaning no one else thought of the same idea. In order to be classified as novel and/or unique, the usage of the idea had to be appropriate for the content. An example given in the study used ‘ideas for buttons’ to explain the difference. Imagining a button as a miniature […]
- [How Cancer Changed My Art, Part 2](https://realmscapes.world/how-cancer-changed-my-art-part-2/): Part Two This is the second half of the story of how cancer changed my art. It’s a somewhat long story, which is why I’ve broken it into two parts: Part One is about what I went through after my diagnoses while this part is about my renewed return to creativity. Prior to my cancer diagnoses and consequent surgery, I didn’t care how long it took to create and I didn’t overly worry about going down rabbit holes during the creative process. After my first chemo treatment, when permanent neuropathy became a real possibility, I felt like I was suddenly under […]
- [How Cancer Changed My Art, part 1](https://realmscapes.world/how-cancer-changed-my-art-part-1/): Part One In June 2021, I was diagnosed with colon cancer. After abdominal surgery and a lengthy hospital stay (I’d also had an intussuscepted section of small intestine that had to be removed), I had four weeks of recovery time prior to starting chemotherapy. During that time, I could barely walk and needed a lot of help getting up and managing my daily living. Needless to say, making art wasn’t at the top of my list of things to do. However, after I started chemotherapy I discovered that my perspective about art-making was changed. Instead of being focused on a need […]
- [My Zen Journey](https://realmscapes.world/my-zen-journey/): The post that records the biggest change that I ever experienced.
- [Historic Jonesborough Studies](https://realmscapes.world/historic-jonesborough-studies/): Medium: Graphite and inkSize: 9.5 by 11 inches eachNotes: Completed September 2021. A series of historic Jonesborough place studies focused on architecture, local character, texture, and atmosphere. This small series of graphite and ink drawings of historic places in Jonesborough, Tennessee was completed in September 2021. I was interested in the character of these buildings and places: the lines of old wood, the rhythm of windows and rooflines, the contrast between architecture and trees, and the way familiar local landmarks can feel both ordinary and storied at the same time. And I wanted to experiment with using graphite and fineliner pen. […]
- [Primary Birds](https://realmscapes.world/primary-birds/): A watercolor bird study built from separate reference photos and arranged as a red, yellow, and blue composition.
- [Before the first oncology appointment](https://realmscapes.world/before-the-first-after-surgery-appointment/): It’s been a week since the incision staples were removed and it still looks really bad. It keeps blistering and leaking yellow fluid. They did not place the port. Somebody dropped the ball with the insurance authorization, so I had to wait until that happened. Then it was a matter of the first available appointment with the right doctors, which ended up on the 29th. So I’m not sure what’s going to happen tomorrow at the oncology appointment. I’m hoping that they’ll reschedule the start of chemo until the port heals, maybe around the 1st or 2nd week of August? I’ve […]
- [CanPlan Review](https://realmscapes.world/canplan-review/): Today I had my first post-operative appointment, which was supposed to be for suture removal and port placement. It ended up being just the suture removal. I’m not sure why, but the office wasn’t prepared to put me under anesthesia to place the port. So I have to wait for them to call and reschedule another appointment for that. I’m not sure if it will delay the chemotherapy, either, because I’m scheduled to go in and get that started next Tuesday. Looks like treatment is off with a bang! Did it hurt to get the staples out? A little. The incision […]
- [Thinking](https://realmscapes.world/thinking/): While laid up in the hospital trauma center, there’s really not much a person can do. There’s TV, of course, or if you have a book you can read. Or if you have a tablet you can scan the internet; my hospital didn’t have great internet speed, so I doubt if I could’ve watched Netflix, let alone play any kind of game that I like. I’m not a TV watcher, but I did manage to read all of The Secret Lives of Animals while I was there, which I highly recommend, by the way. Yet, for the most part, I didn’t […]
- [At Home (Cancer, Part 4)](https://realmscapes.world/at-home-cancer-part-4/): I am finally home. The first night was tough. After my husband set up the shower chair, my first priority was to bathe and wash my hair. Even though I took sponge baths in the hospital, I could barely stand my stink. It would be wonderful if hospital toilets had bidets, but they don’t, and so we must do the best we can. It was then that I noticed blood coming from the incision. Was it supposed to do that? I didn’t know, and there was no help line to call on the discharge orders, nor were there any detailed incision […]
- [Cancer, Part 3](https://realmscapes.world/cancer-part-3/): Today’s post is about food. If you’ve ever gone a week without eating anything, maybe you can relate. Or if you’ve been in a hospital far longer than you wanted to be, you’ll be able to relate. I promise it’s the worst of the hospital stay. Things got better once I was able to go home. But let’s start with food. Hospital food always gets a bad rap and in today’s hospitals I’m not sure why. Nearly everything offered to me the first couple of days I could eat came from a package. I can’t say it was good, but it […]
- [Cancer, Part 2](https://realmscapes.world/cancer-part-2/): On Friday I had a visit from a very nice doctor, a graduate student in the oncology center. He explained the technical aspects of my two types of tumors. THe first procedure was a segmental resection of the proximal jejunum and removal of a 4.5 cm lipoma. This was the intussception, the cause of most of my pain for the last few months, and the reason I always felt “full” (well, besides actually having a full intestine!). Thinking back, I started noticing the pain on a trip we took to Charleston in April. It was like having a stitch in my […]
- [Dealing with cancer, part 1](https://realmscapes.world/dealing-with-cancer-part-1/): Hello friends! I’m sorry, I don’t have any artwork to share with you today. I haven’t had much opportunity to draw in the last couple of weeks. My life has turned completely upside down, and I need to process what is going on, so I thought I’d share this journey that I recently started. Let me begin with a pleasant memory from last week. We live on a country farm road in the beautiful hills of East Tennessee, and we have very long days in the summer. Last Tuesday (June 22nd) around 9 pm I sat on our front porch watching […]
- [Sketches from Cumberland Mountain State Park](https://realmscapes.world/sketches-from-cumberland-mountain-state-park/): Sketches from a camping trip.
- [February through May Compilation](https://realmscapes.world/february-through-may-compilation/): 2026 Post Script: I wrote several blog posts in 2021 that were lost when I transitioned the blog from annettezimmerman.com to realmscapes.world. I’ve been able to find the images that were in the posts, but not the actual posts themselves. For my own archive, I’m posting the images here with what I can remember about the post. February 2021 May 2021: I bought the Laws Guide for birds and did some studies in a large sketchbook
- [Ink It!](https://realmscapes.world/ink-it/): Why practice? This week’s post is going to be short. Instead of going through a tutorial explaining how I used this week’s limited supply list, I’d like to start a conversation about the P-word.You know what I’m talking about. PRACTICE My inner voice says: I don’t have time to practice. Every artwork I make has to count towards productivity or I’m wasting my time.I say to it “Unless you’ve been working with your supplies for years and know exactly what to do with them, it’s not a time waste.” My inner voice says: I’m afraid to practice. It uses valuable supplies. […]
- [Lost and Found: An Art Adventure](https://realmscapes.world/lost-and-found-an-art-adventure/): Step 1: Materials Selection (#materials)Step 2: Discovering Inspiration and Choosing a Guide (#guide)Stop 3: Preparing for the Journey (#prepare)Step 4: The Sketch (#sketch)Step 5: The Background and Major Landscape Features (#background)Step 6: Adding Details (#details)Step 7: Learning From Your Practice (#learn) Are you ready for a 6 Supplies Challenge? Today’s post is the first of the Art Adventure series, and our mission will be to use six supplies or less (not including paper) to create a work of art. I’ll go through the steps of selecting the materials, then show you how to find inspiration to get some ideas of what […]
- [How to Make a Randomized Materials List](https://realmscapes.world/how-to-make-a-randomized-materials-list/): Hi there! Today I’m going to show you how I make my materials selections for the art adventures. If you want to try an adventure of your own, you might want to make your own selection generator. It’s nothing more than a series of three lists and a way to randomly choose items on them. How you compile the lists is up to you. I use an Excel spreadsheet because I’m comfortable with Excel, but you can just as easily make lists on a paper with a pencil, or even write each item on a scrap of paper, fold it up, […]
- [Make It Moody](https://realmscapes.world/make-it-moody/): Do you like limited supply challenges? Me too! They help me practice while making me stretch as an artist. This week I’m excited to announce the first of a new series of posts called Art Adventures. Each week I’ll post a new adventure called a Mission. Each Mission’s goal will be to apply a specified technique in conjunction with a limited supply challenge. We’ll chose inspiration from somewhere across the globe and pick a well-known artist as our guide. Then we’ll “pack” our supplies (which is really fine tuning our limited choices) and start exploring! You’ll even have a unique souvenir […]
- [Art Adventures!](https://realmscapes.world/art-adventures/): Do you like limited supply challenges? Me too! They help me practice while making me stretch as an artist. This week I’m excited to announce the first of a new series of posts called Art Adventures. Each week I’ll post a new adventure called a Mission. Each Mission’s goal will be to apply a specified technique in conjunction with a limited supply challenge. We’ll chose inspiration from somewhere across the globe and pick a well-known artist as our guide. Then we’ll “pack” our supplies (which is really fine tuning our limited choices) and start exploring! You’ll even have a unique souvenir […]
- [Cardinal Bookmark](https://realmscapes.world/cardinal-bookmark/): A handmade cardinal bookmark from November 2020, inspired by winter walks in Tennessee and the bright flash of cardinals against the bare cold-weather landscape.
- [How to combine watercolor and colored pencil](https://realmscapes.world/how-to-combine-watercolor-and-colored-pencil/): Hello there! Happy November to you. Today I have a quick post about a portrait study that I just finished. A couple of weeks ago I discovered a wonderful artist on YouTube – Kendyll Hillegas. She’s an illustrator who specializes in food. I checked out her Patreon channel, too, and once I added her to my membership I decided to check out one of her classes on Skillshare. It’s called “Paint With Me: Dramatic Portraits”. Today I’d like to share what I got out of that class.I’m really glad I took it! Watercolor painting is my weakest skill. I’ve been trying […]
- [SoCS: Collar](https://realmscapes.world/socs-collar/): Hello again! Summer is almost over. The yellow coneflowers are gone, the cornflowers are almost done. Goldenrod and morning glories are in their height, climbing the banks along the fields, and the corn is ripe. About a third of the houses I see have autumn decorations on the porch already. They remind me of my own still boxed away in the basement. We’ve been debating the purchase of wooden rocking chairs or gliders for the front porch, so I’ve sort of been waiting to put out fall decorations until we decide. Might as well do it all at once if it’s […]
- [#SoCS: A New Friend](https://realmscapes.world/socs-a-new-friend/): I just discovered a WordPress blog by Linda G Hill with a post called “Stream of Consciousness Saturday”. I think she might have started this in March of 2014, it was the oldest post I could find although I confess I didn’t read all of the posts she’s written since then. In her own words, I always have a hard time coming up with a blog post on the weekends. So I’ve been doing something for the past month … called “Stream of Consciousness Saturday.” I’ve decided to try to make it a “thing,” to see if people want to join […]
- [How many ways can you knit a sock?](https://realmscapes.world/how-many-ways-can-you-knit-a-sock/): Does it ever seem odd that the month at the end of summer is often thought of as a time for new beginnings? September is here, and, for me, it’s always been back-to-school time, even though it’s been a long time since I’ve sat in a classroom. The time to begin a new grade year. I started first grade the Tuesday after Labor Day in 1971 (who can forget their first day of school?) and the first day of school continued to be after Labor Day until I reached middle school. September meant crisp air during the morning walk to school, […]
- [How to Make an Artist Trading Card](https://realmscapes.world/how-to-make-an-artist-trading-card/): Last week I posted a brief essay on the history of the artist trading card. You can re-read that here if you like. Briefly, Artist Trading Cards (ATC) started back in the 1990s when an artist from Zurich decided to catalogue his art on trading cards that could be swapped with other artists. It’s become a fun hobby for many artists and crafters who use it to improve their skills, market their art, or simply trade and collect interesting art in a miniature form. There aren’t many “rules” to making an ATC, but today I thought it would be fun to […]
- [What Are Artist Trading Cards?](https://realmscapes.world/what-are-artist-trading-cards/): If you’ve seen my Instagram lately, you know that I’ve been focused on making “little” art: 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch cards created with watercolor, ink or colored pencil. These are Artist Trading Cards (ATC), a fun hobby I stumbled across in 2018 and have recently returned to. Today I thought it would be interesting to find out where this hobby originated. In a future post I will show you ways to make them. How did the ATC craze get started? Trading cards have a long history. Back in the 1860s, when baseball was just starting to become popular, photography […]
- [My Frustrating Attempts to Learn Watercolor](https://realmscapes.world/my-frustrating-attempts-to-learn-watercolor/): How was your week? I hope it was a good one. This week I’ve been learning how to improve my watercolor painting. It isn’t going very well. Do you ever feel like sometimes there is nothing that goes right in your artwork? That’s how this whole experience is going. When I draw, it’s easy to use more pressure or a softer pencil to get tone. With watercolor, using less water isn’t doing it. I understand that diluting the paint with water lets the paper show through, producing “lighter” shades on white paper. But using less water doesn’t get me a deeper […]
- [Did You Know It's World Watercolor Month?](https://realmscapes.world/did-you-know-its-world-watercolor-month/): Hello there! Are you enjoying your summer? We’re in our mid-summer weather pattern now, full blast, with beautiful sunrises and sunsets and thick humid heat in between. But our morning walks have been lovely – there’s just enough of a gentle breeze in spots near the creek that make me wish I could stay out all day. Did you know that July is World Watercolor Month? I didn’t – until I got an email from ArtistsNetwork telling me about it. Here’s what I found out! The focus of World Watercolor Month isn’t just to create watercolor paintings. It’s to increase awareness […]
- [A Prayer for Cleaning the Bathroom](https://realmscapes.world/a-prayer-for-cleaning-the-bathroom/): This is just a little something that came into my head while I was doing my weekly cleaning. I thought I’d share it along with a couple of recent practice watercolor pictures. It seemed appropriate to add a picture with some kind of water subject, hence the koi. But the coneflower seemed like something you’d find hanging in a bathroom, so it’s included, too. I hope you enjoy them! A Prayer For Cleaning the Bathroom Hello, bathroom.There are a million other things I could be doing right nowA million other things I’d rather be doing right nowBut it’s time to clean […]
- [Baby Portrait](https://realmscapes.world/baby-portrait/): A graphite and charcoal portrait based on a baby picture from around age two, completed in May 2020 and tied to a family memory about the plaid dress in the photograph.
- [](https://realmscapes.world/6816-2/): Hello everyone! Today I want to share a few things with you. The weather is just gorgeous here in Tennessee, too beautiful to pass up an outdoor sketching trip, so I thought I’d share some pics from that. I’ve been working on improving my watercolor skills and have a whole list of free online courses you can take if you’re also interested in watercolor. And finally, I’m happy to say that the basement remodel project is finished, and while I’m not going to show any studio pictures today, I wanted to share a few old sketchbooks that I uncovered while unpacking. […]
- [Dealing With Fear in a Pandemic](https://realmscapes.world/dealing-with-fear-in-a-pandemic/): How having a baby compares to the changes we've been going through in the COVID pandemic. Performed at Storytown Radio Show on April 27, 2020.
- [Camp Nanowrimo and the 100 Day Project](https://realmscapes.world/camp-nanowrimo-and-the-100-day-project/): Today I’m going to steer away from the serious art thinking that I’ve been discussing in the last few posts and switch to some fun things. We all can use some fun in our lives, right? April is almost here, which means Camp NaNoWriMo will be starting soon, as well as the 100 Day Project, two activities that are more fun than a barrel of Silly Putty. Are you ready? We still have a few days in March for prep, plenty of time to finalize those outlines and mail order art supplies! Camp NaNoWriMoRemember NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) from my […]
- [How Storytelling Can Help Your Art](https://realmscapes.world/how-storytelling-can-help-your-art/): To me, storytelling and art go hand in hand, but I didn’t always think this way. In fact, I never heard of storytelling prior to three years ago when I moved here. It was in 2017. We’d been searching for a new home that would suit us for life in retirement and found a beautiful little place in the foothills of Tennessee. The land reminded me of the Kii Mountains in Japan, a lovely temperate rainforest steeped in Japanese history and tradition that my husband and I explored in 2015. The history here in the Smoky Mountains is different, but it’s […]
- [](https://realmscapes.world/7053-2/): A floral practice piece using watercolor with colored pencil layered on top, focused on bright color and petal detail.
- [How to Find Your Lost "Why" in Art](https://realmscapes.world/how-to-find-your-lost-why-in-art/): Are you struggling with your art? It’s fun to draw and paint, no doubt about it. It’s nice when your artwork can also earn a few dollars. But what do you do when your creative work is no longer satisfying? Worse yet, what can you do when your creative time becomes a source of frustration? It might be time to take a deep dive into your spiritual side. Or, if you don’t like the word “spiritual”, substitute “inner self”. To begin, pick up a copy of “Concerning the Spiritual in Art” by Wassily Kandinsky, find a cozy place to settle in, […]
- [How the Bauhaus Influenced Modern Perceptions of Art](https://realmscapes.world/how-the-bauhaus-influenced-modern-perceptions-of-art/): Hello!In last week’s post I mentioned that my little art studio has been displaced during our basement finishing project, so I’m stuck in the living room unable to really do anything more than some light drawing and studying. We’re still “enduring” our project; the three weeks completion time now looks more like seven, and I’m still filling my time with technical practice and research. So today I want to share some insights that I’ve discovered from my reading. A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a book on art history and started browsing. In it was a short description of […]
- [Derwent Graphitint Experiment (My Search for the Perfect Colored Pencils)](https://realmscapes.world/derwent-graphitint-experiment-my-search-for-the-perfect-colored-pencils/): Hello again! February is here already and the days are flying by faster than I can count. I have a hard time believing January is gone, but then I spent most of it traveling, and that always seems to pass quickly. I managed to get a good bit of writing done while I was gone, but didn’t make any real drawing efforts. And no internet meant no blogging. Since the return, we’ve been in a state of flux. I’d scheduled our trip so that I’d be back home in time to participate in our local radio show, but ended up missing […]
- [Sculpting a Website: Reviewing 2019, Changes and Setting 2020 Goals](https://realmscapes.world/sculpting-a-website-reviewing-2019-changes-and-setting-2020-goals/): Developing your personal website is like sculpting something out of clay. Eventually, you get enough experience to form a shape, then you pinch it here and there to find a nice form. Finally, you can shave some little pieces off to see the details.
- [What to Do After NaNoWriMo](https://realmscapes.world/what-to-do-after-nanowrimo/): After finishing NaNoWriMo with more than 51,000 words, I found myself wondering what comes next: rest, reflection, prompts, and the strange emptiness after a creative sprint.
- [Jack Sprat's Dilemma](https://realmscapes.world/jack-sprats-dilemma/): Jack Sprat and his wife face the age-old dilemma of sharing a roast so small it’s practically theoretical. With riddles, clever bickering, and an unexpected guest, their Saturday supper proves that in the grand scheme of things, fairness is as elusive as the perfect cut of beef.
- [Owl ATC Studies in Graphite and Charcoal](https://realmscapes.world/owl-atc-studies-in-graphite-and-charcoal/): A small series of owl artist trading cards made with graphite and pressed charcoal, exploring texture, contrast, and character in a tiny format.
- [Colored Pencil Studies](https://realmscapes.world/colored-pencil-studies/): Medium: Colored Pencil The fruits of practice.
- [Shhhh...She's Sleeping!](https://realmscapes.world/shhhh-shes-sleeping/): A soft pastel piece completed for a local art show in July 2019, inspired by the idea that people might care more deeply about wildlife habitats if animals were seen with a little more empathy and kinship.
- [Aw, Mom!](https://realmscapes.world/aw-mom/): A pastel wildlife piece completed in June 2019, inspired by the familiar feeling of a mother tidying up her child before sending him out into the world.
- [Lists. And the Flu.](https://realmscapes.world/lists-and-the-flu/): I have a “To Do” list. It’s helpful when I have so many things to do that I can’t keep track of them all. This same feature is also the worst aspect of my To Do list, generally because the list makes it quite obvious that fulfilling my ambitions would require more time than is available. And I have a difficult time telling anyone no, especially myself. So removing a list item before it’s marked complete isn’t an option. My grandmother used to tell me I was biting off more than I could chew. I prefer to look at it as […]
- [A Cruise to Panama, Part I](https://realmscapes.world/a-cruise-to-panama-part-i/): There are about three times during the year when I really crave the ocean, especially if I haven’t been anywhere near a coast for a few months. It’s kind of like being a salmon, only backwards, because instead of wanting to return to a river I feel this crazy need to hear the surf, smell the salt, and see a wide open horizon. It starts in early spring/late winter, before the trees have really leafed out and the warm weather hits. If I ignore it, I get it again in mid-summer when the air gets stagnant. And then it doesn’t hit […]
- [Snow Leopard](https://realmscapes.world/snow-leopard/): Medium: Charcoal and White Charcoal Size: 9.5 x 11 inches I used the toned paper as a middle value, then worked darker with charcoal and lighter with white charcoal to build the form and texture. The spots, whiskers, and fur gave me a chance to explore how much detail to include and how much to suggest.
- [Clean Knitting](https://realmscapes.world/clean-knitting/): January is a time for new beginnings and an accepted month for starting anew. Since the weather is not amenable for outside activity, it’s a good time for indoor activities like knitting. Or cleaning up the house, or the blog. To combine the two, I knitted a pile of new dishcloths from leftover yarn in the stash. Clean knitting! I used a pattern from Ravelry, which is in my Ravelry project folder for the dishcloths. (https://www.ravelry.com/projects/AnniZknitter) All of the yarn was cotton but it came from a variety of sources. The orange and white cloth is now nicknamed “The Volunteer” in […]
- [If I Were President](https://realmscapes.world/if-i-were-president/): It’s Thursday, which means it’s time to write right…so to speak. Think Write Thursday. This week’s topic from Carole Knits is to write about 3 things I would do if I were President of the United States. Go read her blog. She makes good points. I support Carole for President! All joking aside, being President is a tough job. I don’t want it, and after asking everyone in my family if they would be President I have concluded that there will be no State dinners in my future. Since that may be the only upside to being President, I don’t think […]
- [A Visit to Knoxville](https://realmscapes.world/a-visit-to-knoxville/): I visited the Knoxville Museum of Art for the first time last weekend. My husband and I had tickets for an evening performance of the Knoxville Symphony and decided to extend the trip so that we could see some of the city sights. The art museum was one of the places that I’ve had on my list since I first heard about it a year ago. So, after an unhealthy southern breakfast at the Waffle House, we drove to the museum. The morning was cold and gray – a perfect Saturday for spending indoors looking at artwork—yet we were early enough […]
- [Bristol Caverns](https://realmscapes.world/bristol-caverns/): It was time for a day trip! My son, husband and I piled into our Titan and drove to Bristol. After paying $15 each for a ticket, we waited in the gift shop until the tour began. The shop had the typical trinkets: bags of rocks (polished and unpolished), figurines cut from quartz, kids books, T-shirts and mugs. A few minutes later, we joined a couple of other families outside and followed our young tour guide to the first stop on the trail. It was a hole in the ground that was covered with an iron grate. Our guide explained that […]
- [Review of the Derwent Superpoint Sharpener](https://realmscapes.world/review-of-the-derwent-superpoint-sharpener/): Happy Holidays! I hope you are having a lovely holiday season. Mine has been absolutely wonderful. My family is happy and healthy, and lately I am full of gratitude for this time with them. My son presented me with a couple of great gifts yesterday, and I am so impressed with their quality that I would like to share. So today I’m going to give a review on the Derwent SuperPoint Manual pencil sharpener. I never would’ve thought I could get so excited about a pencil sharpener. I’ve heard all kinds of reviews about this one and others, but I figured […]
- [Choosing a New Studio Name](https://realmscapes.world/choosing-a-new-studio-name/): What’s in a name? A lot, actually. Or not enough. Or maybe, if you’re lucky, nothing much. That’s when you know you’ve got a good imagination. I can hear you asking: Anni, what the heck are you talking about? I’m talking about pen names. Store names. Art studio names. Blog names. If you’ve ever had to invent one, you know how difficult it can be. Sometimes the perfect name hits you suddenly and you KNOW you’ve got to use it. This has never happened to me, of course, but I’ve heard it’s possible. No, I don’t get those sudden bursts of […]
- [Blueberries on a Spoon: Colored Pencil Texture Study](https://realmscapes.world/blueberries-on-a-spoon-colored-pencil-texture-study/): A colored pencil study focused on texture: a leather-like background, a worn golden spoon, and the bloom and shine of blueberries.
- [Graphite Sneaker Study](https://realmscapes.world/graphite-sneaker-study/): A graphite drawing of a worn high-top sneaker, completed as a study in texture, shadow, and form.
- [Texture Studies](https://realmscapes.world/texture-studies/): This month I’m focusing on developing my graphite technique. I began with a drawing of a rose but am not happy with the blending result. To gain additional practice with blending, I decided not to use any tissue or tortillon aids and create the drawing using only pencils and erasers. I used the same technique on the sneaker, forgoing any additional aids to pencils and erasers. Both studies were initially drawn by hand from photographs – no tracing or projection was performed. Lee Hammond recommends doing “mini” texture studies using a 3 to 4 inch “viewfinder” over a drawing. I like […]
- [Rose Texture Study](https://realmscapes.world/rose-texture-study/): A graphite rose study from September 2018, focused on capturing the textures, folds, and tonal shifts of layered petals.
- [This Week on the Drawing Board](https://realmscapes.world/this-week-on-the-drawing-board/): It’s Friday! At one time in my life, Friday was the highlight of the week. I loved Friday because I knew that the night would be spent either at the local bar, a friend’s place, or maybe with a movie, because I didn’t have to get up early the next day! Now that I’m retired…well, you already know how that goes. I sleep in every day, so I could potentially stay up late any night of the week. If I wanted to. Which isn’t very often any more. Nevertheless, all those years of anticipating Friday as a celebratory day has made […]
- [A Portrait Prep Challenge](https://realmscapes.world/a-portrait-prep-challenge/): In art, as with most hobbies or sports, or really just about anything, I believe it’s important to have challenges. I’m not referring to competition; I’m referring to the kind of challenge that tests the perception we have about our personal ability to do something. The kind of challenge that makes us prove to ourselves we can do it. This kind of challenge is beneficial because it’s also a test of how important the ability is to me. There’s no pass or fail; what’s important is the approach I have towards the task, the effort I apply to the task, and […]
- [Being Content](https://realmscapes.world/being-content/): Isn’t it neat when you experience an “a-ha!” moment? Maybe it’s because we don’t have them very often. I can’t figure out what makes them unique…is it because (as Robert Wight puts it) we have fulfilled something we’re curious about, and by ending this state of ignorance we experience a subtle moment of bliss? What about the times when we didn’t know we were curious, or didn’t know we were ignorant? That’s the type of “a-ha” I had this morning. A sudden realization that I was suffering from a particular mental delusion. Oh boy does that sound weird. But let me […]
- [Floppy Shoes](https://realmscapes.world/floppy-shoes/): I’ve been a sometime-runner most of my life. It started in high school, when I discovered that running, unlike softball or basketball, was a sport I really could do. I’ve never had the skill for team sports, so when my friend suggested I run at the track with her, I almost didn’t do it. In retrospect it was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. Running is a sport that provides tons of benefits but doesn’t require much ability. There are no rules and no winners or losers. The only person I compete against is myself. I’ll […]
- [Pencil Portrait of My Sons](https://realmscapes.world/pencil-portrait-of-my-sons/): A graphite portrait of my two sons, drawn in 2018 from a photograph I loved and wanted to preserve in pencil.
- [Eddies](https://realmscapes.world/eddies/): “What the world needs now…” Sometimes I wonder if what the world needs now is spiritual unification. Not another reformation, not an attempt to purify an ideology “gone bad”. And something more than bringing in a prophet who promises something new and amazing. The type of unification I think about would do a deep dive into all the various human spiritual beliefs, determine the commonalities, and use that as a basis for helping people realize their own spirituality. There is a Buddhist analogy of spirituality that is applicable to my line of thought. Whether one calls it God, the Holy Spirit, […]
- [Book Review: Stonehenge](https://realmscapes.world/book-review-stonehenge/): A couple of days ago I finished reading Stonehenge: A New Understanding by Mike Parker Pearson. It was a pretty amazing book, not quite what I expected, although far too long for a non-archaeologist like me to fully appreciate. I don’t know what made me chose it. It has a nice cover illustration depicting today’s Stonehenge on a kelley green field with the light of the sun creating strong shadows. It suggested mystery, enlightenment, and in retrospect it resembles a cemetery. The top of the cover boldly declares “Solving the Mysteries of the Greatest Stone Age Monument”. It is a lengthy […]
- [Make Art that Matters](https://realmscapes.world/make-art-that-matters/): There are artists, and then there are the people who can draw, color, or paint. Which category do you want to be in? The purpose of art is to communicate a message. It can be obvious or subtle, but without a message, without the emotion that creates the message, there is no impetus to shape the way the art is created. I’m not talking about practice or exploratory work. I’m talking about the artwork that you’d consider your best. The stuff you’d put in your portfolio or want to be remembered by. The artwork that inspires, motivates, makes us laugh or […]
- [Learning to Illustrate a Story](https://realmscapes.world/learning-to-illustrate-a-story/): Last week I wrote a short story about a koi and an otter. I think it would be fun to illustrate it and put it on the blog. I already have a few ideas in my head about what I want the pictures to look like. But how do I get those ideas out of my head and onto the page? So far, it’s taking a few steps. I’ll start at the beginning. Recently, I took an online workshop called Sketchbook Revival, which introduced me to children’s book illustrator Nina Rycroft. She has classes on Skillshare, and since I already have […]
- [Friday Fundamentals](https://realmscapes.world/friday-fundamentals/): Fundamentals: a central or primary principle on which something is based My intent for this blog isn’t to include a bunch of tutorials. I think there are many well-qualified experts who have already produced enough tutorials, and I’ll list some of them when applicable. However, I do think it’s important to have some guidance when you choose an independent learning path. It’s too easy to get so lost in the online world of tutorials and advice blogs, and lose site of your goals. So, in the spirit of providing guidance, I plan on offering a post once a week, called Friday […]
- [Why Art Matters](https://realmscapes.world/why-art-matters/): This week was full of breakthroughs and visions. I’ll have to take you through them the long way, though. If I just set it out plainly it probably won’t make much sense and might even sound a bit ludicrous. So here we go. CommunityI signed up for a workshop called “Sketchbook Revival”. It’s hosted by Karen Abend and about 20 other artists and runs until May 4. The objective is to focus on creating a daily sketchbook habit. But already I’m finding that there are some additional benefits that I didn’t anticipate. The first is that I’m enjoying a couple of […]
- [A Cruise to Panama, Part 6](https://realmscapes.world/a-cruise-to-panama-part-6/): Sooner or later, a cruise comes to an end. It kind of makes me sad. No more buffet. No more nightly martini tasting. No more waking up to the sounds and smell of the ocean. There’s only been one time when I was looking forward to going home. But it wasn’t this cruise. We’d been on the ship for 7 days and still had 3 days left. And the excursion I was looking forward to the most (after Panama) was about to happen: a trip to the Jaguar Rescue Center in Limon, Costa Rica. What is it they say? It ain’t […]
- [A Cruise to Panama, Part 5](https://realmscapes.world/a-cruise-to-panama-part-5/): Bucket lists. If you’re over a certain age, you probably have one. AARP has statistics that half of all US citizens over the age of 37 have a bucket list, and most of the items on the list are travel-related. I’ll bet the Panama Canal was on the majority of those. It was on mine! And the trip was oh so worth it! Did you know… On Day 6 of the cruise, my husband and I attended a presentation in the Zuiderdam’s main auditorium. The speaker gave us a synopsis of the history behind the Panama Canal and some information about […]
- [A Cruise to Panama, Part 4](https://realmscapes.world/a-cruise-to-panama-part-4/): Did you know… The Beach Boys “Kokomo” was written as a theme song for the 1988 Tom Cruise movie Cocktail? There’s a scene where Tom moves from New York to a bartender position in Jamaica. Terry Melcher was in the studio. Mike Love was on the phone. They had a few bars of music, and Mike comes up with “Aruba, Jamaica, oooo I wanna take ya…”. And the iconic song of the ideal Caribbean vacation was born! Wasn’t Tom adorable in that movie? Go ahead, sing it loud! You know you can’t help yourself 😉 We visited Aruba on the fourth […]
- [A Cruise to Panama, Part 3](https://realmscapes.world/a-cruise-to-panama-part-3/): It’s better in the Bahamas! Or so they say. There are over 700 islands in this nation archipelago, so “better” is absolutely a matter of relativity. However, there are some features that apply to the area in general; the water is clear and an average of 80 degF all year long, the beaches are awesome, and there are a high concentration of sharks both on land and off. Cue Christopher Cross…Sailing, takes me away to where I’ve always heard it could be… Yesterday I gave an overview of our cruise ship, the MS Zuiderdam, on our Holland America 10 day cruise […]
- [A Cruise to Panama, Part 2](https://realmscapes.world/a-cruise-to-panama-part-2/): Last month Hubby and I decided to book a last minute cruise to the Panama Canal. Neither of us have ever been there, and it was on my bucket list. It seemed like a good thing to do at the time. And it was! We had a great time, enjoyed the trip and highly recommend it to anyone considering a similar voyage. Today I want to talk a little bit about the ship we were on: the M.S. Zuiderdam of Holland America Line. First launched in 2001, it has an ideal capacity of roughly 1900 passengers and a crew of 840. […]
- [The 100 Day Project](https://realmscapes.world/the-100-day-project/): The 100 Day Project https://www.the100dayproject.org/ This is the fifth year for a social collaboration called The 100 Day Project. It’s goal is to get you into the habit of making something for 100 days in a row. What can you do in 100 days? Just about anything you want. Every day after you create your art you take a picture of it and upload it to Instagram to share it with the world. I found a good explanation/prompt in last year’s announcement at https://thegreatdiscontent.com/100days.The project was inspired by a grad school project for graphic design students at the Yale School of […]
- [Artsy Hobbies](https://realmscapes.world/artsy-hobbies/): I want to share my latest hobby. Artist Trading Cards! I don’t remember how I discovered this wicked addiction, but last month I signed up at ATCs For All (www.atcforall.com) and began participating in swaps this month. The concept is that you create a card and exchange it with another artist for their card. The website is a non-profit, member-run forum for hosting organized swaps and trading one-on-one with other artists. They have a gallery where you can post your cards as well as peruse thousands of cards created by people from all over the world. I am confessing right now […]
- [New Goals and Objectives](https://realmscapes.world/new-goals-and-objectives/): Hello again! My last post explained some of my thoughts about the new objective of this blog. This post is about planning the road map. I’m not going to go into a lengthy discussion about why planning is necessary. I’m not going to cover the topic of planning at all, really. Instead, I’m going to walk through my general thought process. If I were still homeschooling my boys (they are both in their 20s now and I can only be thankful that they still listen to me!), this would be a method I might use to plan their curricula. I will […]
- [Planning the New Blog](https://realmscapes.world/planning-the-new-blog/): Hello! Confession: I am not the kind of person who feels compelled to blog regularly. I like using the web site as a journal, and I’m eager to explore different ways to use the medium creatively, but I have no motivation to update it regularly. I’ve used the past couple of months to explore various options, including online writing and illustration. I find that I like putting stuff on the blog when it’s concerned with what I am currently doing or interested in and less likely to post if I have to hunt for a topic. And. . . I have […]
- [Lotus Socks WIP](https://realmscapes.world/lotus-socks-wip/): Salutations!It’s wonderfully warm here today even though it is overcast and a little drizzly. The cowbirds are congregating on the fields in large black flocks and moving like a giant wiper from one end to the other to nab tasty insects. This morning I enjoyed a short dove concert as I meditated. It seems that we are all anxious for spring to get here. The forecast is for cold temperatures to return this weekend, but I am grateful for the respite from winter. Today I’ll share my work in progress (WIP). I’m knitting socks, another stash-buster, using size 0 double pointed […]
- [Personal Thoughts on Small Appliances](https://realmscapes.world/personal-thoughts-on-small-appliances/): January is finally over. I think I can honestly say that January is my least favorite month. I don’t care for short, cold days, feeling trapped in the house because of the weather. When I lived in California, January rained. And rained. And then it rained some more. Here in Tennessee we got some snow, which was pretty, but it didn’t stick around.That’s fine with me. Better than gray drizzly rain. So now February is here, and I hope it will bring a few flowers and warmer temperatures. Let’s start today’s blog with the announcement that, after four months, my replacement […]
- [Unraveled Wednesday January 3](https://realmscapes.world/unraveled-wednesday-january-3/): The Roan Highlands sweater is progressing nicely. I finished the main body and one sleeve, and nearly finished the second sleeve. Thanks to this very cold weather, any time spent outdoors is limited to 40 minutes or less of walking, and without an oven (yes, it’s still inoperative) I can’t bake anything. So I’ve loads of extra time for knitting. I’m not prepared for living in cold temperatures. My predicament is the result of living for 30 years in California, where we rarely experienced daytime temperatures below 35F. Any day it dipped into the 30s was “cold” for me. So while […]
- [2017 Year End Review](https://realmscapes.world/2017-year-end-review/): Things I Learned in 2017 ‘Tis the season for year end reviews, resolutions for the new year, and the top 10 lists for favorite whatevers. I think it’s necessary to have a time of the year dedicated to reviewing the recent past. How better is it to learn than from experience? So, for today’s post, I’m sharing some of the things I learned this year. I thought I already knew some of this, but 2017 was a radical year for introspection. Now I wonder if I really know anything at all! Influencing What I learned: Don’t get emotional about politics. This […]
- [On the Eighth Day o Yuletide](https://realmscapes.world/on-the-eighth-day-o-yuletide/): On the Eighth Day o Yuletide… My true luve geid tae meEight skaters skooshin! So goes the Scot version. And it’s is cold enough here that we have an ice patch on our back porch. It isn’t big enough to skate on, but brrrr….the weather forecast is for a high of 36 deg F today. A great day for wearing homemade knits! I finished the wrap gift after a knitting marathon on the 15th and then let it block for 3 days. The pattern is Lively House Wrap https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/livezey-house-wrap. It was super easy to follow and the wrap was very quick […]
- [20 December Unraveled Wednesday](https://realmscapes.world/20-december-unraveled-wednesday/): ‘Twas the Wednesday before Christmas and all through the houseThe humans were stirring… CHRISTMAS COOKIE DOUGH! At least I hope it will be that way this time tomorrow. Since I am actually writing this blog a day in advance, I don’t know if the oven repair man will be here today or not. If he doesn’t show up, it will be DAY 61 without an oven. And I don’t want to mix any cookie dough if I can’t bake the cookies. I have learned there are no amounts of prodding, threats, promises or complaining that will motivate an appliance repair person. […]
- [Changes](https://realmscapes.world/changes/): Change. Life as we know it can’t exist without it. I suppose that’s why humans feel this innate need to control everything. To influence how things change. I’ve been thinking about this lately. ‘Tis the season when changes are hidden from us outside, but we all know that spring will be here soon enough and the world will change again. Seems like it was just yesterday when the trees were covered in bright warm colors and pumpkins were everywhere. Obviously we can’t control the changing of the seasons. I hope we never find the means to do so. Ah, anyway, moving […]
- [To Be Human](https://realmscapes.world/to-be-human/): A poem.
- [22 November Unraveled Wednesday](https://realmscapes.world/22-november-unraveled-wednesday/): It’s the day before Thanksgiving but I’m already thinking of all the things I’m grateful for this year! Here are a few of them, in no particular order: I’m so thankful that life is so good! Knitting Progress This week’s knitting has been productive. I’ve put the Roan Highlands sweater on hold while I work on a gift project. The needle size is rather large so it’s easy to get a lot finished in an hour or two in the evenings. Not going to say what it is…yet… The yarn is really nice, nicer than I thought it would be. It’s […]
- [Childhood Ambitions](https://realmscapes.world/childhood-ambitions/): So here it is, the 20th of November already. Isn’t it funny how time seems to pass more quickly the older one gets? I missed blogging last week. That is, I didn’t write anything, mostly because I wanted to write something profound and impactive regarding current events and the unfortunate plight of our national state of media misinformation. I decided it would be too much like shouting from a soapbox and put a post out on Facebook instead. One of the best things about Facebook is that you can share almost anything and people won’t remember it a week later. Switching […]
- [Unraveled Wednesday for 8 Nov](https://realmscapes.world/unraveled-wednesday-for-8-nov/): This week’s update includes meager progress in the Knitting Department and some background into my fondness for cozy mysteries, as well as a book recommendation for writers.
- [Old Stone Mountain Highland Games](https://realmscapes.world/old-stone-mountain-highland-games/): Guid gear comes in sma’ bulk… proved true this last weekend at the Stone Mountain Highland Games! It really wasn’t that small, but there was so much to do and we had such a great time that I can’t wait for the next one. It was the 45th gathering of the Clans at this beautiful venue. Over 90 clans set up booths under the tall Georgia pines to welcome Scottish friends and descendants from all over the country. Blue and white flags blew jauntily. The heady aroma of fried fish and chips wafted on the breeze. Colorful tartans were everywhere! The […]
- [Unraveled Wednesday: My First Shawl](https://realmscapes.world/unraveled-wednesday-my-first-shawl/): This week on Unraveled Wednesday
- [Roan Mountain Hike](https://realmscapes.world/roan-mountain-hike/): How was your weekend? We took a long drive with a short hike on Thursday to Roan Mountain. I heard a lot of good things about it and thought we’d pack a lunch and check it out. The mountain straddles the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. We wanted to take a look at the nearby camping possibilities as well as the hiking, but found a lot of other interesting things while we were there. The mountain is actually a series of peaks located in the Roan Highlands. There’s a nice length of the Appalachian Trail that crosses through the Highlands, […]
- [Unraveled Wednesday Sweater Sampler](https://realmscapes.world/unraveled-wednesday-sweater-sampler/): This week I’ve been making progress on the Sweater Sampler. But I haven’t been spending a lot of time knitting. We’ve run out of shows to watch on Netflix and CBS All Access, so I’ve picked up books to read or have been playing video games instead. I’m also feeling a little homesick for California. Not that I’m regretting the move here, not one bit. It’s just that there are more cultural differences between the two areas than I would’ve thought in this day of instant communication. Anyway, on to Unraveled Wednesday. I’m learning a few things by knitting this Sweater […]
- [What makes a place mine?](https://realmscapes.world/what-makes-a-place-mine/): I think belonging to a place may be a little like friendship. There are times in your life when it's easier and times when you just have to let it grow.
- [How I Learned Not to Belong](https://realmscapes.world/how-i-learned-not-to-belong/): Some places felt like mine because I knew their streets and could move through them freely. Yet, after years of moving—and discovering how much fitting in could cost—I stopped expecting any place to feel like home.
- [Making a place with art](https://realmscapes.world/making-a-place-with-art/): Originally posted on Patreon. How do you make art about a place without copying the ideas of others?
- [What does it mean to be an artist?](https://realmscapes.world/what-does-it-mean-to-be-an-artist/): After retirement, I tried to turn art into a business—and nearly lost the joy that brought me to it in the first place. A cheap sketchbook, a ballpoint pen, and a few imperfect drawings helped me remember that art doesn’t have to prove its worth to anyone, including me.
- [The Painting That Wanted to be Made](https://realmscapes.world/the-painting-that-wanted-to-be-made/): When the first version of Jack Moore’s Looking Glass Maker turned out muddy, I had to decide whether to abandon it—or listen more carefully to what it wanted to become. I started over, changed the colors and composition, and discovered that a boy, a cat, and a little persistence could give the painting the life it was asking for.
- [Jack Moore, Looking Glass Maker](https://realmscapes.world/jack-moore-looking-glass-maker/): Medium: Pen, Ink and WatercolorSize: 7 by 10 inchesNotes: From my own reference photo I really liked the perspective in this work, but the sign is what drew my attention. A looking glass maker…who still makes looking glass. Or does he? It’s a story, but even more interesting is the Eureka Inn, which offers a Southern Breakfast. So what’s on the menu? The little boy on the suitcase and a cat brings another story to the picture. Why is he sitting there? What are they looking at? Jonesborough is full of little story sparks, and these are only a few of […]
- [I Miss Mr. Rogers](https://realmscapes.world/i-miss-mr-rogers/): I miss Mr. Rogers, but what I miss most is the world he made seem possible: curious, creative, gentle, and kind enough to include the person making the art.
- [Leaving Myself a Trail of Breadcrumbs](https://realmscapes.world/leaving-myself-a-trail-of-breadcrumbs/): After retirement, the days began to blur together, and I needed some way to prove to myself that I was still doing things. Journaling became a record, blogging became an online museum, and now my monthly newsletter gives me another place to gather the pieces of a life in progress. Sometimes it helps to leave yourself a trail of breadcrumbs.
- [Still Working on Life, Ten Years Later](https://realmscapes.world/still-working-on-life-ten-years-later/): Over ten years of blogging, I’ve changed names, designs, subjects, and selves. Looking through the old evidence reminded me why I keep returning: I’m still working on life, one realm at a time.
- [Sketching Shenandoah: What I Packed, What I Used, and What I Brought Home](https://realmscapes.world/sketching-shenandoah-what-i-packed-what-i-used-and-what-i-brought-home/): I packed enough art supplies for several imaginary versions of myself, then discovered that the artist who actually showed up in Shenandoah mostly needed a sketchbook, a pen, and five spare minutes. Between mountain drives, campground deer, wildfire haze, and one unruly palette, the trip taught me what travel sketching is really for.
- [When Watercolor Textures Turn Into Tiny Storytellers](https://realmscapes.world/when-watercolor-textures-turn-into-tiny-storytellers/): A simple watercolor texture exercise unexpectedly turned into a series of tiny storyteller artworks. These pocket-sized ACEOs grew from painted experiments, old ideas, and the hope that someone might take home a small piece of Jonesborough’s storytelling spirit.
- [The July Realmscapes Newsletter Is Up, and This Month It’s a Zine](https://realmscapes.world/the-july-realmscapes-newsletter-is-up-and-this-month-its-a-zine/): The July Realmscapes newsletter is up on Substack, and this month it’s a downloadable zine: a small creative dispatch with art, writing updates, studio notes, and assorted oddments.
- [A New Little Side Door Has Appeared](https://realmscapes.world/a-new-little-side-door-has-appeared/): Realmscapes now has a Patreon. It’s not replacing the website, just offering another free companion space for creative updates, news-zines, and behind-the-scenes notes.
- [De Stijl Inspiration for a Landscape Painting Experiment](https://realmscapes.world/de-stijl-inspiration-for-a-landscape-painting-experiment/): A limited-palette watercolor experiment using only cobalt blue, red, yellow, and black, with no mixing allowed. What started as a De Stijl-inspired color exercise became a lesson in design.
- [Running uphill towards pizza](https://realmscapes.world/running-uphill-towards-pizza/): Training for the Pioneer Pride 5K, painting tiny watercolors, dreaming up LitRPG chaos, and migrating ten years of blog posts. Anyway, onward.
- [Blogging as a Way of Thinking](https://realmscapes.world/blogging-as-a-way-of-thinking/): Rereading old blog posts has reminded me that blogging has never just been “content” for me. It’s a way of thinking, noticing, and catching small birds of thought when they land.
- [Nature Journal Practice: Bugs](https://realmscapes.world/nature-journal-practice-bugs/): A watercolor nature journal study of insects, wildflowers, and small overlooked creatures from The Nature Journaling Circle.
- [A Bridge Back to the Painting Table](https://realmscapes.world/a-bridge-back-to-the-painting-table/): Hello friends,I wrote briefly in my last post about being in a creative slump, and to be honest, I don’t want to talk about that very much right now. What matters is that I feel like I’m coming out of it, and that recovery is partly due to committing to an online monthly nature journaling session. It’s called The Nature Journaling Circle, created by Alex Boon at naturejournalingcircle.com. He also has a YouTube channel, which is where I first discovered him. His life philosophy is something I identify with, and listening to him talk about nature observation and creating art is genuinely soothing. […]
- [February, and signs of motion](https://realmscapes.world/february-and-signs-of-motion/): January turned out to be a month of listening instead of publishing. As February begins, I’m noticing signs of motion returning—outside, in the studio, and in my own attention.
- [The Future I Stopped Pretending Not to Want](https://realmscapes.world/the-future-i-stopped-pretending-not-to-want/): I thought that, when I retired, stepping away from goals and schedules would bring peace. Instead, I discovered restlessness, distraction, and a loss of meaning. This week I reflect on how I found my way back in 2025—not to obligation, but to making, learning, and respecting my real nature. 
- [The Pub Crawl](https://realmscapes.world/the-pub-crawl/): It’s Christmas Eve and 25 men walk into a bar. What could possibly go wrong?
- [December in the laundry room](https://realmscapes.world/december-in-the-laundry-room/): I’m in the creative laundry room this month, holding up projects like shirts and asking which ones still fit.
- [The Illustrators Who Raised Me](https://realmscapes.world/the-illustrators-who-raised-me/): These past weeks of gratitude led me back to the illustrators whose pages first opened worlds for me. This post is a small thank-you to the hands that helped form my creative life.
- [Inside my winter sticker sketchbook](https://realmscapes.world/inside-my-winter-sticker-sketchbook/): A quiet return to drawing this week, working on winter animals and bluegrass charm in a behind-the-scenes peek at how this year’s sticker collection begins.
- [When a Story Tries to Turn Into Cinderella](https://realmscapes.world/when-a-story-tries-to-turn-into-cinderella/): A short reflection on how a simple magical-hairdresser story tried to turn into Cinderella, and what it taught me about tropes, honest endings, and staying inside a character’s heart.
- [Return to the studio: dust, light and the first day back](https://realmscapes.world/return-to-the-studio/): After weeks in hospital halls, I finally made it back down the basement stairs to my studio. The dust, the light, even the quiet felt like home. Between the hum of the printer and thoughts of a real meal again, I’m learning how healing can sound like paper shuffling and smell like dinner on the stove.
- [Notes from the table: what I learned at Johnson City Zine Fest 9](https://realmscapes.world/johnson-city-zine-fest-notes/): I’d been looking forward to the Johnson City Zine Fest since June, when I first heard about it and sent in my application in July. It became the bright pin on my calendar all through summer—a goal that kept me printing, folding, trimming, and imagining how my stories might look out in the world instead of just on a screen. When I arrived—fifteen minutes before the event organizer—I was already a little anxious about parking. Rightfully so, it turned out. The nearest public lots were a couple of blocks away, and I didn’t want to haul a table, chair, and a […]
- [When a zine isn't a zine...](https://realmscapes.world/when-a-zine-isnt-a-zine-but-chapbook/): I recently discovered that some of my beloved “zines” aren’t zines at all—they’re chapbooks! What began as mild embarrassment turned into a delightful realization: I’ve accidentally been running a small press. In exploring the tangled history between zines and chapbooks, I found that their difference isn’t about rules—it’s about intent, and the shared joy of making stories personal again.
- [From No Imagination to Endless Ideas](https://realmscapes.world/from-no-imagination-to-endless-ideas/): Ten years ago, I thought I had no imagination. Now I keep pens in every room just to keep up with the ideas. Somewhere along the way, my creativity grew three sizes—like the Grinch’s heart—and started glowing like a jar of fireflies.
- [September at the threshold](https://realmscapes.world/september-at-the-threshold/): September is a threshold month; still hot and humid, yet shadows stretch longer and the leaves begin to turn. I’ve been feeling its melancholy this year: mourning missed summers, grieving family losses, and noticing how time races on. Yet in that same melancholy, I’ve found fuel for reflection, writing, and creating.
- [Tails Will Tell](https://realmscapes.world/tails-will-tell/): A magical short story where a wizard’s careless spell, a fox curse, and a king’s greed reveal the folly of passing misfortune on.
- [Realmscapes at one year: forging a creative path](https://realmscapes.world/realmscapes-at-one-year-forging-a-creative-path/): A year into Realmscapes, I’ve discovered that the Free Fictional Frontier isn’t just a home for old short stories—it’s become the Dispatch for my zines. Fifteen booklets later, I’m realizing that what began as an experiment has turned into the creative path I’d been searching for all along.
- [Every Fall Begins Like a Story](https://realmscapes.world/when-fall-feels-like-the-first-page-of-a-story/): September brings stories, mishaps, and new beginnings—lost zines, moody computers, and plans for a bard’s wagon at Zine Fest.
- [A First Look at the Woodland Watchers](https://realmscapes.world/a-first-look-at-the-woodland-watchers/): This week brought hospital waiting rooms, cooler autumn days, and progress on my Woodland Watchers zine. One illustration is finished, a second is underway, and the owl beneath the Hunter’s Moon has already whispered his story into the night.
- [In Praise of the Story-seeker's Gremlin](https://realmscapes.world/in-praise-of-the-story-seekers-gremlin/): A playful ode to creative chaos, mysterious glitches, and the mischievous gremlin who shows up just when you think everything’s under control.
- [Paper, Ink, and Six Years of Becoming](https://realmscapes.world/paper-ink-and-six-years-of-becoming/): Paper, Ink, and Six Years of Becoming
- [The story behind The Shopping List](https://realmscapes.world/the-story-behind-the-shopping-list/): Sometimes a story begins with something as ordinary as a dropped shopping list — and a moment of wondering who it belongs to.
- [Mapping the Realms: How This Site is Actually Organized](https://realmscapes.world/mapping-the-realms-how-this-site-is-actually-organized/): Realmscapes isn’t just a blog—it’s a mapped world of creative realms. This week, I’m pulling back the curtain to show how it’s actually organized (and why I built it this way in the first place).
- [Making Waves](https://realmscapes.world/makingwaves/): Making Waves explores life’s stages through six illustrated messages—pleas, regrets, and acceptance—drawing inspiration from Zen’s empty boat parable and the idea that we are the boats, always moving, always changing. The zine ends with a space for your own message, inviting you to join the journey and pass it along to someone else who might need it.
- [The myth of the perfect creative space](https://realmscapes.world/the-myth-of-the-perfect-creative-space/): This week’s zine didn’t make the deadline, but real life did. While catching my breath, I found myself pondering the YouTube myth of the perfect studio—and why creativity thrives in messy, real-life corners instead.
- [When Coffee and Computers Conspire](https://realmscapes.world/when-coffee-and-computers-conspire/): Half‑caff mornings mean more time for journaling, art, and apparently talking to my laptop when it stages a dramatic shutdown. Between cold coffee runs to the microwave and a machine dreaming of retirement in Florida, it’s a wonder I get anything done. But hey, I call it a win. Sort of.
- [You Might Be a Hornblower If...](https://realmscapes.world/you-might-be-a-hornblower-if/): I don’t usually make fan zines—but then Mat Cauthon raised the Horn. This one’s for the reluctant heroes, the gamblers, and the ones who turn back.
- [Lines, Tones, and Tiny Victories: A Quick Tour of My Zine-Making Pens and Markers](https://realmscapes.world/lines-tones-and-tiny-victories-a-quick-tour-of-my-zine-making-pens-and-markers/): Waterproof lines, velvety tones, and a few battered marker tips—here’s the candid rundown of the brush pens, cool-gray Tombows, and papers I trust (or quarantine) while cranking out zine pages.
- [The secret power of mini-projects](https://realmscapes.world/the-secret-power-of-mini-projects/): Sometimes the secret to finishing creative work isn’t more time or more discipline — it’s thinking smaller. Here’s why mini projects have helped me finish more in two months than I did in the last two years.
- [Barking at monsters](https://realmscapes.world/barking-at-monsters/): Dogs bark at rabbits. I bark at Elementor. A funny look at creative chaos, Barkyard Security, and how overreaction might just be our default setting.
- [The Return of the Studio](https://realmscapes.world/the-return-of-the-studio/): Studio Second Street is back — and this time, it belongs. A story about creative integration, purpose, and how one milk glass chicken still holds magic.
- [How to make a zine habit: four in and still rolling](https://realmscapes.world/how-to-make-a-zine-habit-four-in-and-still-rolling/): Online zine-making seems to have gotten easier after only four issues, maybe because I’ve streamlined the process (or at least stopped reinventing the wheel each time). The idea and draft It starts with the idea. Some weeks it comes fast, other times I spend a couple of hours thinking it through. The easiest ideas show up when I’m doing something completely unrelated, like driving to the store. I’ll notice something that bothers me—like a new billboard going up on land that could’ve been something better for the community—and realize it might be a worry other people share. That’s been the pattern […]
- [Sometimes It’s Just a Good Week (and That’s Enough)](https://realmscapes.world/sometimes-its-just-a-good-week-and-thats-enough/): A quiet week of porch-sitting, birdsong, and unexpected studio satisfaction. Zines are blooming, pastels are cooperating, and the dust layer has been vanquished (with a dish rag from the 1980s, no less). Sometimes, it’s good to pause and celebrate the small, quiet victories.
- [June Studio Dispatch](https://realmscapes.world/june-studio-dispatch/): A June update from the Realmscapes studio: a new zine, a new Realm, and a glimpse behind the scenes as sticker kits and tiny books come to life.
- [The Birth of a Zine Habit](https://realmscapes.world/the-birth-of-a-zine-habit/): A behind-the-scenes look at creating my first illustrated Substack zine — why I made it, what I learned, and why this might be the start of a new creative habit.
- [Back from Break: Notes from the Sun, Salt, and Story Fog](https://realmscapes.world/back-from-break-notes-from-the-sun-salt-and-story-fog/): After a long-awaited creative break, I’m rethinking how I use Substack and WordPress—and reflecting on how artists can adapt in the age of AI. Less polish, more play. More zines. More voice. A travel sketch and a quiet shift in direction.
- [Aliki Book 1 - Editing update](https://realmscapes.world/aliki-book-1-editing-update/): I’m still laughing at the draft of Aliki Martin and the Chocolate Cartel. It turns out a lot of the story was still in my head when I wrote this. I’m connecting the dots now, one edit at a time.
- [The Only Way Out Is Through: Zen, Art, and Doing It Yourself](https://realmscapes.world/the-only-way-out-is-through-zen-art-and-doing-it-yourself/): A personal reflection on how Zen philosophy influences my creative process. I explore beginner’s mind, letting go of perfection, and why doing your own work—your own way—is the only real path to growth in art, writing, and life.
- [New Masters Academy Drawing Foundations 1: weeks 2–5 progress notes](https://realmscapes.world/new-masters-academy-drawing-foundations-1-weeks-2-5-progress-notes/): In my last post Why I Joined New Masters Academy and chose the Illustration Track, I covered Week 1 of Drawing Foundations 1. This update picks up from there, with progress through Weeks 2–5. While most of the material so far is review, I’ve found that each week holds at least one useful reminder or new nuance that’s made the time feel well spent. Week 2: Measuring proportions and angles This week focused on using a pencil or straight-edged tool to measure angles and proportions—something I’ve done before but never practiced consistently. The videos felt long at first, but once I […]
- [Why I joined New Masters Academy and chose the Illustration Track](https://realmscapes.world/why-i-joined-new-masters-academy-and-chose-the-illustration-track/): Curious about New Masters Academy? Here’s why I joined, how I chose the illustration track, and what Week 1 of their structured art program is really like.
- [Interviewing characters for my new series](https://realmscapes.world/interviewing-characters-for-my-new-series/): Ever wondered how authors discover their characters? Join me behind the scenes as I use playful AI-powered interviews to bring Core and Nova—two hilarious, heartfelt characters—to life for my new sci-fi series, Realmspire. 
- [The books that shaped how I see the world](https://realmscapes.world/the-books-that-shaped-how-i-see-the-world/): Books shape us. If I could If I could sit down with all the younger versions of me, and give her the books that would change her life, all in one worn-out backpack, I would. Because the truth is, each one holds a piece of who I am. Today, I'm sending letters to my younger self with all the reasons why her book choices were good ones.
- [Can AI replace creators? Not anytime soon.](https://realmscapes.world/can-ai-replace-creators-not-anytime-soon/): AI has sparked fears of replacing human creativity, but true artistry stems from personal experience and metaphor—something AI can't genuinely grasp. While AI is a useful tool for brainstorming and simplifying tasks, it lacks the depth of human perspective, ensuring that writers and artists remain irreplaceable in the creative process.
- [Behind the Scenes: Writing and Posting My First Novel Draft](https://realmscapes.world/behind-the-scenes-writing-and-posting-my-first-novel-draft/): Finishing a novel feels like stepping through one door and reaching for the next—equal parts triumph and anticipation. Sharing my draft online pushed me to keep going, even when the words wouldn’t come. Now, with Aliki Martin and the Chocolate Cartel complete, a new adventure is just beyond the door.
- [Thriving in the backwater of the online creator ecosystem](https://realmscapes.world/thriving-in-the-backwater-of-the-online-creator-ecosystem/): Feel like you’re drifting in the backwater of the digital creator ecosystem? You’re not alone. Join me in the backchannel—a space where creativity flows freely, beyond the noise of algorithms. Let’s set our lanterns adrift and see where the current takes us.
- [The final stretch of Aliki Martin and the Chocolate Cartel](https://realmscapes.world/the-final-stretch-of-aliki-martin-and-the-chocolate-cartel/): After a lot of writing, rewriting, and balancing key moments across Chapters 11, 12, and 13, I’m happy to say the final act is nearly complete. Chapter 14 is in progress, which means the first full draft of the book is almost finished. That’s a big milestone.
- [Whispers in the Wind](https://realmscapes.world/whispers-in-the-wind/): A woman braving the winter wind is guided—and frustrated—by mysterious voices, each reflecting her inner conflict, as she struggles to make sense of their advice.
- [My adventure writing a sci-fi murder mystery](https://realmscapes.world/my-adventure-writing-a-sci-fi-murder-mystery/): Turning spaceships and chocolate into a murder mystery has been a wild ride—but Aliki's adventure is just getting started.
- [Aliki's Next Mess: Chapter 4 is up!](https://realmscapes.world/alikis-next-mess-chapter-4-is-up/): Aliki thought managing a used spaceship dealership would be straightforward—at least as straightforward as it gets on Earth. In this chapter, she finds out otherwise. With the ever-watchful Mitch digging deeper and the enigmatic Zoron keeping his cards close, Aliki’s ability to stay under the radar is put to the test. Not to mention, just when she thinks her day couldn’t get worse, a tube of “Arctic Breeze” manages to make things… stickier. Dive into Chapter 4 to uncover what happens when tensions rise, secrets unfold, and not everyone plays fair. Read the Chapter Now! Oh, and did I mention that […]
- [Chapter 3 of Aliki Martin and the Chocolate Cartel is LIVE](https://realmscapes.world/chapter-3-of-aliki-martin-and-the-chocolate-cartel-is-live/): The third chapter (in draft form) is posted on the web site. Please let me know what you think of the story so far!
- [How Storyteller Tools by M. Harold Page makes plotting addictive](https://realmscapes.world/how-storytelling-tools-makes-plotting-addictive/): Lost in the messy middle of your story? Storyteller Tools by M. Harold Page transforms planning into play. With conflict diagrams and clever QABNs, it’s like story sculpting on steroids. Fair warning: once you start, you might not want to stop plotting. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
- [The draft of Chapter 2 is finished and posted!](https://realmscapes.world/the-draft-of-chapter-2-is-finished-and-posted/): The plot is thickening! Writing it felt like piecing together an intergalactic puzzle, but it's all starting to click.
- [The power of observation for artists and writers](https://realmscapes.world/the-power-of-observation-for-artists-and-writers/): On a recent trip to Japan, I left my laptop behind to focus on something different: pure observation. By immersing myself in unfamiliar sights, sounds, and routines, I discovered how these experiences can deepen creative work, enriching the worlds we build with authentic details and fresh inspiration.
- [Chapter 1 (draft) is completed!](https://realmscapes.world/chapter-1-draft-is-completed/): As a plotter, I love creating outlines that start as faint ideas and gradually grow into detailed scenes. However, the real challenge comes when it’s time to fill in the gaps—those transitions between scenes that feel so natural in my head but are trickier to write. Often, it’s the little moments, the way a character moves from one scene to the next, that leave me staring at the screen. It can feel so frustrating, especially when transitioning from a high-energy action scene to slower exposition. See, in action scenes, I write in short bursts—quick sentences, almost like a script. It comes […]
- [A Sip of Kindness](https://realmscapes.world/a-sip-of-kindness/): Based on a true story of my own from my days in the US Air Force.
- [Navigating the future of illustration (and my own)](https://realmscapes.world/navigating-illustration/): I fell off the illustration bandwagon this week while working on a novel. But I did manage some drawing practice, learning “Weight Drawing,” and had a realization while reading Heller’s The Education of an Illustrator about how AI is just another evolution in the industry, much like photography and digital tools were.
- [How the Loomis method makes me a better artist but steals my soul](https://realmscapes.world/how-the-loomis-method-makes-me-a-better-artist-but-steals-my-soul/): In this week's SketchAwesome challenge, I explored the Loomis method for sketching heads. It  improved my technical skills, but  I found the sketches lacked  expressiveness.
- [Overcoming little struggles and rediscovering how tech can be good](https://realmscapes.world/overcoming-little-struggles-and-rediscovering-how-tech-can-be-good/): This week’s progress in my Illustration Quest came with some challenges, like tackling flash pose drawing and rethinking my routine. 
- [How to layer gouache: my third week with SketchAwesome](https://realmscapes.world/how-to-layer-gouache-my-third-week-with-sketchawesome/): This week, I faced my challenges with gouache in the SketchAwesome program, navigating tricky color mixes and layering techniques. Though it's not my favorite medium, these exercises offered a welcome break from structured practice and helped me find joy in creative exploration, complementing my ongoing Illustration Quest.
- [Exciting beginnings: my self-taught art journey, week 1](https://realmscapes.world/exciting-beginnings-my-self-taught-art-journey-week-1/): My first week on a self-taught art journey has been filled with unexpected challenges, inspiring discoveries, and a renewed sense of creative freedom. Join me as I explore foundational skills, face new trials, and uncover what it means to truly learn the art of illustration.
- [Sketching scary sea life for SketchAwesome week 2](https://realmscapes.world/sketching-scary-sea-life-for-sketchawesome-week-2/): Check out this fun sketching session of a scary looking shark and a goldfish that looks like it's been spooked!
- [Creating a flexible 'map' for my illustration quest](https://realmscapes.world/creating-a-flexible-map-for-my-illustration-quest/): Check out my plan to boost illustration skills: improve drawing, composition, and storytelling. Learning at my own pace with no pressure!
- [The start of a new journey](https://realmscapes.world/the-start-of-a-new-journey/): When I retired, I thought I’d finally dive into art, but despite tutorials and new supplies, I felt stuck. I realized I needed guidance, not just inspiration. So, I’m creating a self-taught course to grow my skills. Follow along as I document my journey and share insights for fellow creatives!
- [Can soluble graphite be used like watercolor? SketchAwesome week 1](https://realmscapes.world/can-soluble-graphite-be-used-like-watercolor-sketchawesome-week-1/): SketchAwesome has started, and week 1 is all about experimenting with watersoluble graphite. It's an interesting media that has a learning curve.
- [The First Day Fib](https://realmscapes.world/the-first-day-fib/): This is a story I wrote based on my own experience. Like most stories we told for the radio show, it started out with a bit of truth, but turned into a story about an embarrassing first day of school. SFX School bell buzzing NARRATOR It was the first day of fifth grade at Central Elementary School in Franklin, Pennsylvania. Ten-year-old Diane nervously entered Room 201. MRS. WATT Good morning! I’m Mrs. Watt. You must be Diane. DIANE (shyly) Yes, that’s me. NARRATOR Mrs. Watt started with a “get-to-know-you” activity. MRS. WATT Everyone, tell us your name and what you did […]
- [SketchAwesome: a new sketchbook habit?](https://realmscapes.world/sketchawesome-a-new-sketchbook-habit/): I've given up on an online business. But there's one thing I'd like to do: make sketching a daily habit. SketchAwesome might help with that!
- [The Gazing Globe Goof](https://realmscapes.world/the-gazing-globe-goof/): Based on a true story told to me by my grandmother.
- [The Unforgettable Delivery](https://realmscapes.world/the-unforgettable-delivery/): Bobby Loudy's story about joining the US Air Force.
- [Travel Sketchbook: Pen, Wash and Places Remembered](https://realmscapes.world/travel-sketchbook-pen-wash-and-places-remembered/): A collection of mixed media urban sketches from 2023–2024, made live and from personal travel references in sketchbooks.
- [A Tiger in the Tank](https://realmscapes.world/a-tiger-in-the-tank/): Remember the old Exxon/Esso Tiger?
- [Purple Iris Watercolor Study](https://realmscapes.world/purple-iris-watercolor-study/): A 9 x 11.5 inch watercolor study of purple irises on cold press Arches watercolor paper, completed in May 2024, focusing on layered washes, delicate petal shapes, and botanical color variation.
- [The Tick Terminators](https://realmscapes.world/the-tick-terminators/): A story about a couple of local superheroes, their dog, and a day at the park.
- [Strong Women](https://realmscapes.world/strong-women/): A story to illustrate the strong women in Jonesborough's history, focusing on Carolyn Moore.
- [See you next week, Jean!](https://realmscapes.world/7306-2/): My Nana told me this story when I asked her why Pop always called her Jean when her name was really Mary. She was born in 1925 and said she was 16 when she met him, that would have been after February of 1941. They got married February 1942, when he was 20, she was 17. I performed this at Storytown Radio Show in February 2024.
- [How to make a good art composition: start the right way!](https://realmscapes.world/how-to-make-a-good-art-composition-start-the-right-way/): Before making thumbnails, even before making decisions about what you want to include in your drawing, the most important thing a beginner can do to improve a composition is to ensure that the drawing will be made in the same proportion as the reference or view that's being drawn. A viewcatcher makes this easy.
- [Art is wine: metaphors, AI and a book review](https://realmscapes.world/art-is-wine-metaphors-ai-and-a-book-review/): Do artists have an advantage over AI? In this post I look at metaphorical communication and try an experiment with an AI image generator.
- [Pen Portrait Study of a Man](https://realmscapes.world/pen-portrait-study-of-a-man/): An approximately 8 x 10 inch black-and-white pen portrait study on Bristol, drawn from a found reference image in late 2023 and focused on expression, age, shadow, and linework.
- [Stonehenge Watercolor Study](https://realmscapes.world/stonehenge-watercolor-study/): A watercolor painting of Stonehenge based on my own reference photo from a 2023 trip to the British Isles, reflecting on the scale, mystery, and human effort behind the ancient monument.
- [Christopher](https://realmscapes.world/christopher/): Based on a true story, this script was written for the October 2023 session of Storytown Radio Show. But it was never performed. The writers' group I was part of (which had no legal training) believed it could be a copyright infringement. Too bad. I personally thought it was one of my best. 
- [Marriage in High Winds](https://realmscapes.world/marriage-in-high-winds/): A rough lake, a small boat, and a new marriage. Performed at Storytown Radio Show in August 2023.
- [Jonesborough's Most Significant Landmark](https://realmscapes.world/jonesboroughs-most-significant-landmark/): It was a show about historical places in Jonesborough, but everyone seemed to forget the most significant landmark. Performed August 28, 2023.
- [15 tips for staying safe while urban sketching](https://realmscapes.world/15-tips-for-staying-safe-while-urban-sketching/): One of the best ways to learn is by making mistakes. In this post, I talk about how I self-critique when my art fails.
- [Portrait Study: Swashbuckler](https://realmscapes.world/portrait-study-swashbuckler/): A pencil portrait study with a touch of swashbuckling drama, drawn from a personal reference photo and revisited from the 2023 studio archive.
- [A Fish Story](https://realmscapes.world/a-fish-story/): There's more to fishing than the fish. This script was performed for Storytown Radio Show on May 29, 2023.
- [Very Basic Training](https://realmscapes.world/very-basic-training/): Performed on April 23, 2023 for the Storytown Radio Show. It was an interpretation of my experience at the USAF Boot Camp.

## Pages

- [The Script Morgue](https://realmscapes.world/the-script-morgue/): The Script Morgue StoryTown Radio Show is a monthly local performance project that brings community stories, memories, humor, history, and a few well-earned tall tales to life through radio-style scripts. The show is still going today, with monthly performances broadcast on public radio. I don’t remember the exact year I first joined, but it was sometime in the late 2010s, when the show was still called The Yarn Exchange and performed at the International Storytelling Center. We rehearsed on the last Sunday of the month, then recorded the live performance on Monday. During the COVID pandemic, the show moved to the […]
- [Dispatch](https://realmscapes.world/dispatch-old/): Small paper parcels, odd little field notes, or handmade story objects from the stranger corners of Realmscapes…zines and chapbooks are dispatches in small packages. Some are polished collections, some are experiments, and some are strange little messages from wherever the map got interesting.
- [Short Stories](https://realmscapes.world/short-stories-2/): Wayward Words Brief crossings, odd encounters, or small windows into larger worlds…short stories are getaways in small packages. Some are polished tales, some are experiments, and some are strange little creatures found under the floorboards of imagination.
- [About Anni Z](https://realmscapes.world/about-anni-z/): Hi! I’m Annette Zimmerman, aka Anni Z, and I enjoy creating through art and prose. I was born among cornfields in the Midwest, have lived on Long Island on the East Coast and in California’s Central Valley on the West Coast, and have traveled across much of the United States. Of all the places we’ve seen, East Tennessee felt the most beautiful to my husband and me, so we promptly moved here. I have a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering, but retired in 2016. In 2021 I was diagnosed with cancer, and underwent extensive surgery and chemotherapy. I’m now happily enjoying […]
- [Contact](https://realmscapes.world/contact/): Have a question, note, collaboration idea, or something kind to say about art, stories, zines, or Realmscapes? You can reach me here. I’m most likely to respond to thoughtful notes, creative inquiries, local opportunities, and messages related to my artwork, writing, website, or projects. Thanks for wandering through Realmscapes.
- [Realm of Rants (Blog)](https://realmscapes.world/rants-and-ramblings-blog/): Welcome to The Realm of Rants and Ramblings The Realm of Rants and Ramblings: where profound insights and trivial complaints coexist in an uneasy truce, all while hoping to be mistaken for wisdom. It’s a cosmic lost-and-found for thoughts that refuse to stay quietly in the mind. Creative Process A Bridge Back to the Painting Table Hello friends,I wrote briefly in my last post about being in a creative slump, and to be honest, I don’t want to talk about that very much right now…. June 4, 2026 | By Anni Z Creative Process February, and signs of motion January turned […]
- [A Brief History of FOMO (Zine #5)](https://realmscapes.world/zine-5-a-brief-history-of-fomo/): Zine #5: A Brief History of FOMO This week’s zine began with a simple question:“What if FOMO has been messing with us since fire was invented?” And once you imagine a caveman stuck watching eggs while his friends discover fire, it’s hard to stop seeing FOMO everywhere — from Roman scribes missing wine parties to moldy bread almost getting ignored in favor of balloon races. Zine No. 5: A Brief History of FOMO is part fake history, part very real coping strategy. It traces the ancient roots of the Fear of Missing Out, explains how it evolved into modern scrollhole spirals, […]
- [How to Be Unbothered (Zine #4)](https://realmscapes.world/how-to-be-unbothered-zine-4/): How to Be Unbothered Our favorite Studio Second Street cat, Tilda, had a big “paw” in the making of this, a guide to keeping emotional clarity in a time of turmoil. You can read it online on Substack, or download printable versions below to share, fold, or stash in your backpack for quiet reflection. Please don’t forget to download the printing instructions, as well. Download a PDF version here Download printing instructions here ✨ If you liked this, feel free to share the link or check back soon — I’ve got more zines on the way. Visit my Substack zine platform […]
- [Nowhere Fast (Zine # 3)](https://realmscapes.world/nowhere-fast-zine-3/): Nowhere Fast A visual meditation on time, presence, and the art of noticing.What if “nowhere” was really “now here”? You can read it online on Substack, or download printable versions below to stash in your existentialism drawer for later. Please don’t forget to download the printing instructions, as well. Download a PDF version here Download the printing instructions here ✨ If you liked this, feel free to share the link or check back soon — I’ve got more zines on the way. Visit my Substack zine platform Go to Substack
- [The Curious Realm of Studio Second Street](https://realmscapes.world/the-curious-realm-of-studio-second-street/): where stories become souvenirs Welcome to the Curious Realm of Studio Second Street—an illustrated corner of Realmscapes where stories aren’t just told, they’re tucked into zines, whispered through sticker sheets, and bound into tiny paper adventures. This is a place for the odd, the whimsical, and the lovingly handmade. Whether you’re here for a story you can hold in your hands or simply curious what’s brewing behind the tiny blue door, you’re in the right Realm. Curiosities you may discover soon… These glimpses are just the beginning…What’s shown here may change, evolve, or disappear entirely. That’s part of the charm. Enter […]
- [The Retirement Story (Zine #2)](https://realmscapes.world/the-retirement-story-zine-2/): The Retirement Story This is a short, illustrated zine about the myth of retirement and what it means to rethink the ending. You can read it online on Substack, or download printable versions below to share, fold, or stash in your backpack for quiet reflection. Please don’t forget to download the printing instructions, as well. Download a PDF version here Download the printing instructions here ✨ If you liked this, feel free to share the link or check back soon — I’ve got more zines on the way. Visit my Substack zine platform Go to Substack
- [Why Did We (Substack Zine #1)](https://realmscapes.world/why-did-we-substack-zine-1/): Why Did We Let It Get Like This? A quiet, illustrated zine about a little grove of trees, a lot full of signs, and what it all might mean. Thanks for stopping by.This zine began with a corner lot near my house. I thought something useful or hopeful might be built there. Instead, the trees were cleared and another flashing sign went up. This is the story that grew out of that moment. Download a pdf version here Download the printable instructions here Cover image for Why Did We Let It Get Like This? ✨ If you liked this, feel free […]
- [Bookstore](https://realmscapes.world/bookstore/): Welcome to a world of awaits. Dive into a literary journey that celebrates the art of words. This space showcases captivating tales, vibrant characters, and the rich tapestry of imagination. Join us in exploring endless narratives that inspire and entertain. By joining, you’re acknowledging our Terms and Conditions. Featured Reads Discover handpicked novels that inspire and delight. Title of the Book 22$ Purchase Now No payment method connected. Contact seller. Another Great Read 22$ Order Now No payment method connected. Contact seller. Latest Release 22$ Get It Now No payment method connected. Contact seller. Next Adventure 22$ Buy Today No payment […]
- [Short Stories](https://realmscapes.world/short-stories/): Explore Stories Welcome to Our Tales Step into a world of imagination and creativity. Join us as we delve into a collection of short stories that spark your imagination. Every tale awaits to be uncovered, drawing you into realms unknown. Read More Start Exploring Engage with Creativity Explore Our Selection of Captivating Stories Art Portfolio Discover a collection of visual masterpieces that showcase my artistic journey and creative vision. View Art Fictional Works Dive into my world of characters and stories that ignite the imagination and explore new ideas. Read More Blog Insights Join the conversation through essays and reflections that […]
- [Novels](https://realmscapes.world/novels/): Welcome to a world of experiences Dive into enchanting narratives that spark the imagination. This space offers a glimpse into the wondrous stories awaiting you—each crafted to take you on a memorable journey through realms of creativity. Explore Now Discover More Showcase Explore Our Latest Creations Delve into a collection of artistic expressions that reflect my journey. Each piece tells a story and highlights my perspective. Featured project title Discover the creative process behind this project. It’s a blend of imagination and technique that invites viewers to interpret its depth. Genre One Genre Two Genre Three Explore Project Another project title […]
- [Art Gallery](https://realmscapes.world/art-gallery-3/): Main headline that includes content An enticing and imaginative subheading that complements the primary headline. This section can elaborate, underscore main points, or encourage visitors to engage with the works showcased. Explore Discover Art Showcase A glimpse into various artistic expressions, celebrating creativity and the stories behind each piece. Artful Journey Explore the depth of creativity and vision. This section unfolds the narrative behind the artist’s journey, revealing influences and inspirations. Through their work, expect a blend of imagination and personal insights that resonate with audiences. Learn More View Gallery
- [Art Gallery](https://realmscapes.world/art-gallery-2/): Welcome to My Artistic Journey Explore a world of creativity, where stories and images come alive. Discover Join Me in This Adventure Dive deep into insights, inspiration, and beautiful visuals. Learn More Creativity at Your Fingertips Join a community passionate about art, travel, and storytelling. Get Involved Welcome to My Artistic Journey Explore a world of creativity, where stories and images come alive. Discover Join Me in This Adventure Dive deep into insights, inspiration, and beautiful visuals. Learn More Creativity at Your Fingertips Join a community passionate about art, travel, and storytelling. Get Involved Art Collection Showcasing stunning pieces that blend […]
- [Tutorials](https://realmscapes.world/tutorials-2/): Explore More Your Journey Starts Here Discover exciting tutorials and share in the adventure. Dive into stories from my travels, art, and more. Learn More Join Us Our Offerings Here’s a glimpse into what we do and why it matters. This page outlines the heart of our mission, sharing personal tales and creative expressions that inspire. From capturing beautiful moments in travel to creating art that resonates, our aim is to connect with you. We value genuine storytelling and artistic exploration, ensuring every piece resonates with passion. Whether it’s a blog post, tutorial, or artwork, we strive to bring creativity and […]
- [Community](https://realmscapes.world/community/): Welcome to Realmscapes! Join us as we explore life’s travels, stories, and artistry, creating a vibrant community for sharing and growth. Contact Us We would love to speak with you.Feel free to reach out using the below details. Explore Our Events Upcoming Events Join us for exciting events that bring our community together! Check out what’s happening and find something you’d like to attend. When It’s Happening Event One: Fun Day Out Join us for a day filled with activities, laughter, and connection. Don’t miss out on the fun and great company! Learn More > When It’s Happening Event Two: Art […]
- [Tutorials](https://realmscapes.world/tutorials/): Explore More Your Journey Starts Here Discover exciting tutorials and share in the adventure. Dive into stories from my travels, art, and more. Learn More Join Us Our Offerings Here’s a glimpse into what we do and why it matters. This page outlines the heart of our mission, sharing personal tales and creative expressions that inspire. From capturing beautiful moments in travel to creating art that resonates, our aim is to connect with you. We value genuine storytelling and artistic exploration, ensuring every piece resonates with passion. Whether it’s a blog post, tutorial, or artwork, we strive to bring creativity and […]
- [Home](https://realmscapes.world/): Welcome to Realmscapes Realmscapes is a living archive of sketches, paintings, stories, zines, observations, and experiments from the creative practice of Annette Zimmerman (Anni Z). The Realm of Rants & Ramblings a.k.a. The Blog Wander the strange borderlands between insight and nonsense — where blog posts, half-baked ideas, and philosophical side quests all jostle for attention The Dominion of Doodles and Art a.k.a. The Gallery Browse the gallery of finished artwork and visual curiosities — where paint, pencil, and imagination have all been caught in the act. The Fictional Frontier Story Library a.k.a. The Dispatch of Stories & Zines Explore the […]
- [Fictional Frontier](https://realmscapes.world/fictional-frontier/): The Free Fictional Frontier Library Short stories, zines, and chapbooks for those who love wandering through words. Some are free to read, others you can find in print through Studio Second Street. A Realm where imagination runs wild, genres collide, and the only rule is that there are no rules. Wayward Words from the Edge of the Realm Short stories and strays from the shifting borders of imagination. View All Short Stories The Dispatch Crate Messages from the outer realms. These zines arrived slightly scorched but ready to read. #4 How to Be Unbothered Life advice from a cat who’s mastered […]
- [Side Quests & Sagas from Aliki's World](https://realmscapes.world/side-quests-sagas-from-alikis-world/)
- [Mitch Whitman](https://realmscapes.world/mitchs-page/): Mitch’s Page is charting a course from realms unknown and COMING SOON!
- [Keefe Casey](https://realmscapes.world/kcs-page/): KC’s Page is charting a course from realms unknown and COMING SOON!
- [Aliki Martin](https://realmscapes.world/aliki-martin/): Aliki’s Page is charting a course from realms unknown and COMING SOON!
- [The Realms](https://realmscapes.world/the-realms/): Welcome to the Realms! Discover stories, art, and musings from every corner of imagination Choose Enter Explore your favorite Realm
- [Dominion of Doodles and Art](https://realmscapes.world/dominion-of-art-and-doodles/): The Dominion of Doodles and Art Welcome to the gallery wing of Realmscapes, where finished paintings, drawings, nature journal pages, and visual curiosities gather with varying degrees of dignity. Some began as observations, some as stories, and some as small stubborn ideas that refused to stay in the margins.
- [The World of Aliki Martin](https://realmscapes.world/alikis-world/): The World of Aliki Martin Galactic News Read the book HERE by clicking on a chapter: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Meet the Galaxy’s Finest Aliki’s Backstory Imagine what it’s like to grow up in a family that isn’t human. You’re raised by aliens who adore you in their own peculiar way but always seem to regard you with a sort of bemused affection, like an exceptionally clever houseplant. That’s my protagonist’s, Aliki Martin’s, reality: she’s a human […]
- [The Realm of Rants and Ramblings](https://realmscapes.world/posts-archive/): Blog Name Join our newsletter to stay updated Social Media Posts This is a gallery to showcase images from your recent social posts Join Our Newsletter
- [404](https://realmscapes.world/404-2/)
- [Project Page](https://realmscapes.world/portfolio-3/)
- [Global Styles](https://realmscapes.world/global-styles/): Global Styles Colors Fonts buttons This page previews Global Fonts and Colors for this Kit. Changes made in Site Settings will be displayed here. Global Colors SYSTEM Primary Secondary Body text accent custom BG kIt Blue Element Blue Light BG White Element Transparent Overlay bg Global Fonts SYSTEM Primary abcd Secondary abcd body text Looking to change global styles?Click on top left menu in sidebarand then select Site Settings. accent text abcd custom 404 title abcd Hero headline abcd Box Title abcd Subtitle abcd Special Title abcd Body Text Italic Capitalize abcd Accent Text Underline abcd Buttons & Links Buttons and […]
- [Privacy Policy](https://realmscapes.world/privacy-policy/): Your Data, Our Promise: No Shenanigans Consider this the fine print of friendship—we’re not here to snoop, just to keep things tidy and transparent. Dive in to see what’s shared, what’s not, and why even your data deserves a nice, quiet place to relax. Who we are Our website address is: https://realmscapes.world. You can confirm this by checking the box at the top of your screen or the bottom of your device or where the website address is usually shown. Regarding comments When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the […]

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